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F ew women have lived who have devoted their 
entire time and efforts to the betterment of hu¬ 
manity. But Jane Addams, the greatest settlement 
worker in America, has dedicated her whole life to 
this cause. 

She was born in the pretty little Illinois town of 
Cedarville, on September 6, 1861. Perhaps it was 
because she was born in such a perilous time, when 
every heart was thoughtful, and even children’s 
faces were grave, that she grew into such a serious, 
thoughtful, helpful girl. 

Miss Addams is very modest, and little is known 
of her early life. After finishing her common school 
education, she became a student at Rockford Semi¬ 
nary. Here, perhaps unconsciously to herself, she 
began to take a special interest in social problems. 
11 




12 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


Later she went to study at the Woman^s Medical 
College in Philadelphia, and then in Europe. 
Through her studies she became convinced that her 
life’s work lay among the poor, and she became deep¬ 
ly interested in all social problems. 

She returned to Chicago and founded Hull House, 
which is a social settlement in the city’s slums that 
has been of infinite benefit to the poor. In all this 
work she was assisted by Ellen Gates Starr, a very 
wonderful and capable woman. These two noble 
women have done more for Chicago than perhaps any 
other two persons. 

Miss Addams is an energetic, capable and sympa¬ 
thetic woman, with seemingly infinite ability to un¬ 
derstand the problems and troubles of the poor. After 
seeing her noble, peaceful face, one can readily un¬ 
derstand why those in trouble are so eager to trust 
her. It was not long until Miss Addams had won a 
place for herself and her institution. There had been 
need of such a place for years, and for a woman’s 
kindly infiuence. In a few years she became widely 
known as the ^‘first woman in Illinois,” and aroused 
much attention to conditions that hitherto had been 
neglected or carefully hidden. 

It was not long before this slender, young Illinois 
woman was looked upon as an authority on all social 
questions, and became famous throughout the world 
for her work at Hull House. The infiuence of her 
life at this time can never be estimated, but we know 
that many a noble life is a monument to her efforts 
and her kindly patience. 

As one naturally would think. Miss Addams has 


JANE ADD AMS 


13 


always been a clear, deep thinker, and she is also a 
good speaker, which has made her popular as a lec¬ 
turer. Her experience and knowledge have made her 
one of the most gifted speakers on social life in the 
world, and her lectures have probably aroused more 
persons to the dangers that lie in the slums of the 
cities than to any other cause. What Mrs. Stowe 
did for the negroes in writing ‘^Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” 
Miss Addams is doing for the poor of the city slums, 
not only in Chicago, but everywhere. 

For three years Miss Addams did most efficient 
work as an inspector of streets and alleys, but her 
work at Hull House claimed her greater attention. 
In 1909 she acted as president of the conference of 
charities and corrections, also becoming an active 
member in the movement for woman’s suffrage. She 
was a prominent member in the formation of the 
Progressive Party in 1912. It was but natural that 
a woman of her great ability be taken into politics. 

She was elected chairman of the Peace Commis¬ 
sion which met at the Hague, with representatives 
from fourteen nations. Miss Addams was given the 
honor of being entrusted to visit the warring nations 
to make reports. On these visits she met many dis¬ 
tinguished men and women. She was also later 
chosen as a member of the Ford peace party which 
visited Europe trying to secure peace. But she was 
prevented from attending by a serious illness. 

In the midst of her busy life Miss Addams has 
still found time to write a number of books dealing 
with social questions. The most popular and widely 
read being ‘Twenty Years at Hull House,” a fas- 


14 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


cinating account of her work in the home she 
founded; “The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets,” 
an exhaustive study of the call of the street to the 


young; “Democracy and Social Ethics” and “A New 
Conscience and Ancient Evil.” 

In the last few years Miss Addams has often suf¬ 
fered from ill health. But she has found time to 
write “My Second Twenty Years at Hull House.” 
This book carries on the account of her life from 
where it stopped in her book “Twenty Years at Hull 
House,” and gives a vivid picture of this remarkable 
settlement which is now internationally known. 

^ Miss Addams’ most recent and perhaps her most 
important honor came to her in 1931. At that time 
she was made the joint recipient with Dr. Nicholas 
Murray Butler, president of Columbia University 
of the Nobel Peace Prize. This distinguished award 
was given to Miss Addams because she has contrib¬ 
uted so much to the promotion and advancement of 
the ideals of peace between nations. 

Not only has Miss Addams given her life to oth¬ 
ers but also her strength, her love, and every thought 
and effort. Can a more beautiful monument be 
erected for anyone, than this—to have saved not one 
liie but hundreds from a worse fate than death. 


LOUISA M. ALCOTT 


N O writer of girls’ books has been loved more 
than has Louisa May Alcott, nor has any per¬ 
son written books that are more popular, or widely 
read. Perhaps it was because Miss Alcott was al¬ 
ways a girl at heart, even when she grew up, that 
she understood them so well. 

Louisa May Alcott was the second of a family of 
four girls, and was born November 29,1832, in Ger¬ 
mantown, Pennsylvania, but spent most of her life 
in the beautiful old city of Concord, Massachusetts. 
Her father, Amos Bronson Alcott, was a professor 
and a dreamy philosopher, whose gentle influence 
did much to mold the character of the youthful 
Louisa. 

Louisa had little schooling until she was eight 
years old, when the family moved to Concord. Here 
she and her three sisters, Anna, Elizabeth and May 


16 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


received their education. Their father was their 
chief teacher, and their dearest comrade and friend. 
Louisa possessed a bright, cheerful disposition, and 
a strong, healthy body, which made her the sunbeam 
of the “Orchard House,” as they called their home. 
She was the “boy” of the family, as she often called 
herself, and her father’s constant companion. When 
she was only a small girl she would tell her friends 
of the wonderful stories she was going to write some 
day. 

When Louisa was only sixteen years old she began 
teaching in the schools at Concord, and was a very 
successful teacher, endearing herself to all her 
pupils. For ten years she taught school, devoting 
all her spare time to writing, and her first sketch 
was published when she was sixteen. Her first book, 
“Flower Fables,” was published in 1855. It is a 
series of imaginary sketches about flowers. Her first 
novel “Moods” was printed when she was but eight¬ 
een. Both of the books were quite widely read, but 
did not make her famous. 

In 1858 her sister, Elizabeth, died. “Beth” as she 
is called in “Little Women” had always had delicate 
health. She was a sweet, tender child and was great¬ 
ly missed in Orchard House. For neighbors the 
Alcotts had Whittier, Garrison, Sumner, Haw¬ 
thorne, Julia Ward Howe and Wendell Phillips, and 
all these famous persons took a keen interest in the 
Alcotts, especially the talented Louisa. 

At the outbreak of the Civil War Louisa went as 
a nurse to the Georgetown military hospital, near 
Washington, and came home later suffering from ill 



2 












































































































































18 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


health. Money was needed in the Alcott home, but 
Louisa did not feel like writing, and happening to 
think of the many letters she had written home from 
the hospital she revised them and submitted them 
to a periodical. They were accepted by the Boston 
Commonwealth, and printed serially, appearing in 
book form, under the title of “Hospital Sketches” 
in 1863. Like her two previous books they were ex¬ 
tensively read, but did not make her famous. 

In 1865 Miss Alcott had the good fortune to visit 
Europe with an invalid friend. On this trip she met 
many famous literary people. On her return home 
her father took some of her sketches to a publisher, 
who read them without much interest. He suggested 
to Mr. Alcott that he tell his daughter to write a 
book for girls, as a popular writer of girls’ books had 
just died. The professor shook his head, replying, 
“Louisa knows nothing about girls, but could write 
a book for boys.” The publisher refused, stating 
there were plenty of writers of books for boys. 

When Miss Alcott had been told what the pub¬ 
lisher had said she prepared to write a book about 
herself and sisters, feeling, however, it would be of 
little interest to others. “Little Women” was the re¬ 
sult, appearing in 1868, and was popular at once. 
She received a thousand dollars for the story, with 
royalties, and next to “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” more 
copies were sold than of any other book previously 
published. It was the first of a series of books for 
boys and girls, which were as follows, “Little Men,” 
“An Old Fashioned Girl,” “Eight Cousins,” “Rose in 
Bloom,” “Jack and Jill,” “Under the Lilacs” and 


LOUISA M, ALCOTT 


19 


^^Jo’s Boys.’^ Another series of books was published 
later under the title of ^^Aunt Jo’s Scrap Bag 
Series.” 

Miss Alcott’s mother died in 1877, and after that 
the noble woman devoted her life to her aged father, 
who was stricken with paralysis in 1882. After the 
death of her younger sister. May, her little girl, 
Louisa May, came to live with her aunt Louisa. 
From the tales she told the child were collected the 
volumes that make up ^^Lulu’s Library,” a series of 
books which was published the year preceding Miss 
Alcott’s death. 

^ J live for others, not for myself,” was one of Miss 
Alcott’s favorite sayings, and every minute of her 
busy life was devoted to others. The last few years 
of her life Miss Alcott was a sufferer from nervous 
prostration and writer’s cramp. She died in 1888, 
just two days after her father, not knowing that he 
had gone before her. 




SUSAN B. ANTHONY 

N O American woman has been loved and rever¬ 
enced more than Susan B. Anthony. Every 
American boy and girl is indebted to this noble 
woman for her courageous efforts to make this coun¬ 
try a better and cleaner place in which to live. The 
influence of her helpful life extended to other coun¬ 
tries, and no person has done more for the advance¬ 
ment of civilization. 

Susan Brownell Anthony was born February the 
fifteenth, 1820, in Adams, Massachusetts. She was a 
bright, pretty baby and grew into an attractive, gen¬ 
tle girl. Her parents were simple Quaker folk, who 
taught their children to reverence all things good 
and noble, and brought them up in a simple faith and 
trust. All her life Miss Anthony was a devout Chris¬ 
tian. Because of her kindness and her interesting 
20 


SUSAN B. ANTHONY 


21 


ways Susan was a favorite among her playmates. 
All of them wanted “Sue,” as she was usually called, 
for a playmate. 

She was a very brilliant student, and liked to study 
hard. She was hardly more than a child when she 
determined to be a school teacher, hoping in this way 
to help her parents, and influence other boys and 
girls to live noble lives. She was still in her teens 
when she began to teach, but had well developed 
ideas, and possessed much tact and intuition. She 
became a popular teacher and taught for fifteen 
years, learning to know the various personalities of 
her pupils, and to train them accordingly. 

During this time Miss Anthony was brought into 
close contact with various problems that were dis¬ 
turbing the country. Among these the greatest were 
the Temperance and Anti-slavery movements, in 
which she became greatly interested and took an ac¬ 
tive part. She saw that slaves and drink were great 
evils, and were a demoralization to our country, and 
should be stopped, and she never ceased trying to 
abolish them. 

In 1868, when she was no longer busy in the 
schoolroom. Miss Anthony founded The Revolution, 
a magazine devoted to woman’s rights, which 
aroused much discussion. Some criticized her severe¬ 
ly for the views she expressed in her periodical and 
others praised her. She was one of the foremost pi¬ 
oneers of the Woman’s Suffrage movement, and 
among the greatest leaders for the advancement of 
women. 

Miss Anthony and Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, 


22 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


another enthusiastic suffragette, founded the Na¬ 
tional Women’s Suffrage Association in 1869, of 
which many of our grandmothers were members. 
For many years Miss Anthony was president of 
this organization, the purpose of it being to secure 
a national amendment to give women the right to 
vote. This noble woman believed that if women 
helped to make the laws, and choose the lawmakers 
of the country, it would grow better. She was also a 
firm believer that women should have the same 
rights to vote as men. Once she tried to vote in the 
State of New York, under the Fifteenth Amend¬ 
ment, and was arrested and fined. 

By this time Miss Anthony had become well 
known as a woman gifted with rare ability, and 
toured the country, also England, as an advocate 
of temperance and woman’s suffrage. She often had 
vast audiences who always listened eagerly to her 
clear, earnest, musical voice as she told of her ideas 
and views. 

During her spare moments Miss Anthony was al¬ 
ways busy, writing about her work, and contribut¬ 
ing to various magazines. In August, 1920, fourteen 
years after her death, the Secretary of State an¬ 
nounced the ratification by the required number of 
States, of the Woman’s Suffrage Amendment to the 
Federal Constitution. This is the Nineteenth 
Amendment to the Constitution. 

All of her life Miss Anthony was an active, en¬ 
thusiastic worker. So interested was she in what¬ 
ever she undertook to do that she was usually suc¬ 
cessful. Her life ended in 1906, but she lived long 


SUSAN B. ANTHONY 


23 


enough to know that her life had not been given in 
vain, and that in time her noble efforts would be 
successful in giving her country temperance and 
woman^s suffrage. In the societies which have 
sprung from her maiden organizations the memory 
of her energetic life has been kept sacredly alive. 







S^yOJV^ 


AMELIA BARR 

T here was a time when the name of Amelia 
Barr was familiar in every household where 
books were read, and the lively, interesting stories 
that she wrote still live on. Mrs. Barr has the unique 
distinction of having won her reputation after she 
was fifty years old, and in the years which followed, 
writing sixty or more books. It was dire necessity 
instead of real inclination that made Mrs. Barr take 
up the work of writing. 

In a little house tucked snugly away between a 
row of other houses Amelia Edith Huddleston was 
born in Ulvestin, Lancaster, England, on the twenty- 
ninth of March, 1831. Her parents were sturdy and 
strong and always mentally alert, which golden 
heritage they passed on to their small daughter. 

The Huddlestons believed in teaching their chil¬ 
dren to be honest, faithful, studious and hard work- 


24 


AMELIA BARR 


25 


ing, and from the very first Amelia tried to follow 
their teachings. She was well educated, going to 
school in England as well as in Scotland, to which 
country the Huddlestons later removed. 

Until she was sixteen years old Amelia lived a 
happy, carefree life, willing and eager to help with 
home duties wherever she could, but still having 
plenty of leisure time. Her folk were at that time 
what would be called “in comfortable circum¬ 
stances,” but they lost their money and it was neces¬ 
sary for Amelia to find something to do outside to 
support herself. 

After a good bit of persistency Amelia found a 
place as a teacher, but she soon felt the need of more 
education, so she went to Glasgow to study in the 
Wesleyan Normal School. Amelia was a romantic, 
fun-loving girl, as sentimental and full of life as 
any normal girl of today is, and though she liked to 
study there were other things which she liked to 
do even better. Although she did not realize it for 
a time her teaching days were ended when she met 
Robert Barr, an enthusiastic young minister. 

When Amelia was just eighteen years old they 
were married and started housekeeping in a modest, 
cozy way in Scotland. No bride was happier and 
more bonny than was Amelia and she never dreamed 
then of the time she would try to write down the 
glamorous romances forever whisking through her 
active mind. 

There came a day to Amelia when a greater dream 
than she had ever thought of conceiving came to be 
true, for the Barrs were to journey to America, the 


26 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


new land of promise. It is hard even to fancy the 
joyous exhilaration, the impatience and turmoil of 
feelings that lived in Amelia’s heart as she journeyed 
across the Atlantic. They reached New York some¬ 
time in 1853, with hardly any money but with a vast 
amount of courage and hope. Amelia had the true 
pioneer spirit and was ever ready to venture forth 
to meet new adventures and excitement. 

_ Eobert Barr found work as an accountant, while 
his wife opened a small school for girls. When two 
children came to them, Amelia was kept busier than 
ever. Meanwhile her husband entered into business, 
which soon proved to be a failure. He became sadly 
discouraged and turning to his brave wife was 
gladly surprised when she announced that she had 
succeeded in saving a thousand dollars from the re¬ 
turns of her little school. 

After considerable debate and thought the Barrs 
decided to journey down south to Memphis, but 
they were scarcely settled there when the cholera 
forced them to go on to Austin, Texas. Near this 
city they settled on a farm, and new and thrilling 
adventures waited for them. Amelia was perfectly 
at home amid the country wilderness and her life 
grew and expanded. During the years which fol¬ 
lowed fifteen children came to the Barrs, the greater 
part of them dying in infancy. The Barrs later re¬ 
moved to Galveston, Texas, and while living there in 
1867 were visited by the yellow fever scourge which 
swept the country. When the worst of the fever was 
over Amelia was a widow with three children, two 
of her sons having died with her husband. 


AMELIA BARR 


27 


Mrs. Barr had met Henry Ward Beecher, Harriet 
B. Stowe and other noted literary people before 
leaving England, and thinking matters over, she con¬ 
ceived the idea of trying to write to support herself 
and children, so in 1869 she went to New York 
again. Henry Ward Beecher had told her if she ever 
came to America and he could be of any help to her, 
he would be glad to extend it. 

So when Amelia and her three children arrived 
in the big city with only five dollars in her pocket 
she felt the time had come to call upon Mr. Beecher 
for help. True to the great man’s promise he helped 
Amelia all that he could, and was instrumental in 
helping her earn the first dollar for literary work. 
For years she did miscellaneous work, such as writ¬ 
ing advertisements, circulars, short articles, and 
verse to make a living. Then Robert Bonner became 
interested in her work and she became one of his 
writers. Even then she could not “pick and choose” 
so she wrote what would sell whether she cared to 
write that or not. In after years she said she learned 
to write by writing, and bravely she served her ap¬ 
prenticeship. 

During her spare moments Amelia wrote “Jan 
Vedder’s Wife,” bits of which danced through her 
brain during all the years of her apprenticeship. In 
1884 the story was accepted by a leading publisher. 
This book at once established Amelia’s reputation 
and has secured for her a place among American 
writers. It is a story of strong character and vig¬ 
orous life of the Shetland Islands and has been trans¬ 
lated into many languages. In all of her books Mrs. 


28 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


Barr showed marked traits of charm and clearness, 
presenting wholesome and primitive ty 3 )es of char¬ 
acters who have a great appeal. 

All of her life Mrs. Barr was keenly interested in 
the affairs of life, and in later years particularly in 
woman’s suffrage. She never lost touch with the 
world in those years no matter how busy she was 
with her books or her duties in Cherry Croft, her 
beautiful home on the Hudson. 

Mrs. Barr wrote many historical novels, and “A 
Bow of Orange Ribbon,” the second book she wrote, 
is a story of New York during Dutch supremacy. 
About this time Mrs. Barr’s works appeared in the 
best periodicals. The scenes in the “Border Shep¬ 
herdess” are laid on the borderland between Eng¬ 
land and Scotland. “Friend Oliva” is a story of the 
English commonwealth. Among her later novels 
were “Hands of Compulsion,” “House on Cherry 
Street” and “Sheila Vedder.” She wrote an inter¬ 
esting biography which she called “All the Days of 
My Life.” 

Mrs. Barr died on the eleventh of March, 1919, 
at her home in Richmond Hill, from the effects of a 
sunstroke which she had suffered in July. When she 
was a literary contributor to the Christian Herald, 
Louis Klopsch, the editor, became her close friend. 
One day he said, “When you die I want you to be 
buried in my plot in Sleepy Hollow and when the 
resurrection comes I want you to be there close by 
me.” At Mrs. Barr’s death, Klopsch’s widow came 
to her home and made the arrangements, and so 
Mrs. Barr sleeps in the historical old cemetery. 



CLARA BARTON 

E ven when she was a child Clara Barton was 
always busy. There was always a broken doll 
to be fixed, a sick animal or insect to be nursed, a 
child to be soothed. Everything that was injured 
was sure to secure the attention of the sympathetic 
little girl. 

Clara Barton was a Christmas child, being born 
on that day in 1821, at Oxford, Massachusetts. The 
small girl was so much younger than any of her sis¬ 
ters and brothers that they all “mothered” her. 

When only three years old Clara could read, and 
soon started to the district school, where, on account 
of her extremely sensitive nature, she was very shy. 
When she was eight years old the family moved 
to another farm near Clinton, New York. When 
Clara was only eleven years old, one of her brothers 
29 


30 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


had a serious fall which made him an invalid for 
two years. Clara was his nurse and constant com¬ 
panion, and though the experience was very hard on 
her she found her true profession. During the vaca¬ 
tion, following her brother’s recovery, she worked 
for two weeks in her brother Stephen’s mill, but 
with the burning of the mill her work ended. 

When she was but fifteen years old she began 
teaching school, which profession she followed for 
twenty years. Her spirit of helpfulness and sym¬ 
pathy made her a great favorite with her pupils. 
The latter part of those years she also kept the books 
for her brother at the mill, and studied in her spare 
moments. In 1853 she started a “free school” in 
Bordentown, New Jersey. Here the people were 
prejudiced against schools, but in three months they 
changed their minds. 

In 1855 Miss Barton, on account of ill health and 
complete loss of voice, was forced to give up teach¬ 
ing. She went to Washington, where she became a 
government clerk, thus she became the first woman 
to hold a government office at Washington. 

Her own sufferings and disappointments in¬ 
creased her great spirit of sympathy, and everyone 
who needed a friend found in her a true comrade, 
willing to give needed help. 

When the Civil War broke out Miss Barton was 
one of the first to dedicate her time and life to the 
service of her country. From the very first she 
helped to dress wounds in the hospitals, and aided 
the Government in ordering supplies. But her great¬ 
est help was given in assisting the Bureau of Rec- 


CLARA BARTON 


31 


ords, which she herself organized, in placing miss¬ 
ing men. She herself named and marked twelve 
thousand graves in the Andersonville, Georgia, 
Cemetery. 

While dressing so many neglected wounds the 
thought came to Miss Barton that the best place to 
do this would be on the battlefield. Encouraged in 
this by her dying father, she went to the battlefield, 
where her gentle mercy, calm face and loving words 
were of infinite value. Through the Civil War, the 
Franco-Prussian War, and the Spanish-American 
War, Clara Barton was an angel of mercy. 

In 1869 Miss Barton’s health was so impaired 
from her hard service on the battlefield, that she 
went to Switzerland for a little rest. Here she came 
in contact with members of the International Red 
Cross society, and later went to the front in the 
Franco-Prussian War. 

On her return to America in 1873 she at once be¬ 
gan to organize the first branch of the Red Cross 
in this country. She became the first president, and 
held the position until 1904. To her also is due the 
honor of having the amendment added by which the 
Red Cross can extend aid wherever it is needed. 

Miss Barton was honored above all American 
women. The German Emperor, wishing to express 
his gratitude for her unselfish service, presented her 
with the Iron Cross of Germany. 

Miss Barton wrote several books, all telling about 
her work, namely, “History of the Red Cross,” 
“Story of the Red Cross,” and “Story of My Child¬ 
hood.” Her busy life ended at Glen Echo, Maryland, 


32 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


April 12,1912, and, still eager to give help to others, 
she softly cried at the last, “Let me go! Let me go!” 

Not only did our country learn to love this noble, 
pure-hearted, unselfish woman, but so did foreign 
countries. She will always be thought of as one of 
America’s most remarkable women, and the “Angel 
of the Battlefield.” 




SARAH BERNHARDT 

M ark twain said, “There are five kinds of 
actresses, poor actresses, fair actresses, good 
actresses, great actresses and Sarah Bernhardt.” 
Sarah Bernhardt was one of the world’s greatest 
actresses and for fifty years was an idol of the stage, 
admired by everyone. Although Madam Bernhardt 
had a many-sided, restless nature, a quick temper 
and many rather peculiar eccentricities she was gen¬ 
erally loved, for she also had a warm, sympathetic 
heart and a deep sense of justice and gratitude. 

Sarah Bernhardt was born in Paris in 1844, and 
was named Sarah Rosine. She was of Jewish de¬ 
scent, her mother being a Dutch Jewess and her 
father a French Catholic. Sarah was brought up 
and educated in the Roman Catholic faith, and was 
a devout worshiper all of her life. Much of the little 


33 


84 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


girl’s early life was spent in a convent, and the quiet, 
uneventful days must have often irked the soul of 
the adventure-loving, romantic child with overflow¬ 
ing emotions. Much of the earlier years of Sarah’s 
life were spent in Amsterdam and the girl learned 
to love its quaint, quiet beauty, even though chafing 
at the restraint of the life she had to live there. 

While Sarah was still a child she declared em¬ 
phatically that she would be a nun if she was not 
permitted to become an actress at the Comedie 
Frangaise, one of the large theaters. From her baby¬ 
hood Sarah’s every effort and thought seemed to be 
of the stage, and though she had no opportunity to 
visit the theater her little soul yearned deeply for 
these opportunities. 

No child was ever surer of the career she wanted 
to follow when she became old enough, or more de¬ 
termined that the work she was choosing was the 
right career for her than was Sarah Bernhardt. In 
later years she said, “I knew from the very first 
what I wanted to do, and I have tried to do it.” 

When Sarah was nearly fifteen years old she was 
entered as a student at the Paris Conservatoire, one 
of the greatest dramatic schools in France at that 
time. Here in 1861 and the next year Sarah received 
prizes in tragedy and comedy, making her debut in 
“Iphigenie.” Sarah was so frightened that she was 
not a very successful actress, and she made no great 
hit in Scribe’s “Valerie” which followed. 

All her life Sarah was troubled with passionate 
bursts of temper, and she never learned to control 
herself when anything excited her. Disappointed 


SARAH BERNHARDT 


35 


with herself at the Comedie Frangaise, Sarah scarce¬ 
ly knew what to do and one night she slapped the 
leading lady. Slapping leading ladies was not just 
the thing for a beginning actress to do and so she 
left the theater. 

For a short time Sarah’s determination to be an 
actress wavered and grew a bit dim, but her ambi¬ 
tious soul would not let her rest and she soon ap¬ 
peared again at the Gymnase and the Porte Saint- 
Martin in burlesque, and in 1867 at L’Odeon in high¬ 
er drama. Then she had a chance to play a part in 
Hugo’s “Ruy Bias,” and was so successful in this 
role that she was recalled to the Comedie Frangaise. 
From that time on the talented young woman proved 
her ability and her rise to fame and popularity was 
rapid. 

In 1879 Sarah visited London and again in 1880, 
at which time she severed her connection with the 
Comedie Frangaise in a rage, losing $20,000 there¬ 
by. But Madam Bernhardt did not worry about the 
loss of that amount of money at this time for she 
always knew she could make more money by her 
tours abroad, and she was never happy unless she 
could show her power. 

During 1880 and 1881 Sarah toured Denmark and 
Russia. In 1882 she was married to Jacques 
Damala, a Greek actor, but after a year of wedded 
life they parted. Madam Bernhardt made her first 
tour to America in 1886 and was received with joy¬ 
ous enthusiasm. She visited America again in 1891, 
and also two years later when she toured North 
and South America, Australia and all the chief 


36 DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 

European countries. Upon her return to Paris she 
became manager of the Theater of Renaissance, and 
five years later she established the Sarah Bernhardt 
Theater. 

The talented actress revisited America in 1900, 
1911 and 1913. During her 1913 visit she met with 
a painful accident which ended in blood poisoning, 
with the result that, in February, 1915, her leg had 
to be amputated. The graceful Sarah, so active and 
agile, learned to use an artificial limb quite readily 
and returned to active living, but not to the stage. 
She was still youthful in appearance and had the 
same glowing heart she had when a girl, but despite 
her cleverness at handling her new leg she was not 
as active as she was before and she did not believe 
she had any business returning to the stage. 

In 1914 Sarah Bernhardt was the recipient of the 
French Legion of Honor, and the same year she took 
part in a moving picture, “Queen Elizabeth.” From 
the time of the accident Madam Bernhardt gave 
more of her time to her painting and sculpturing, 
being gifted in both. She also wrote a book called 
“Memoirs” and two plays. 

In October, 1916, Madam Bernhardt returned to 
the United States, appearing in all of the larger 
cities, where she received the greatest and most en¬ 
thusiastic welcome she had ever been given. She 
retained her glowing enthusiastic spirit of life till 
her death on March the twenty-sixth, 1922. 







JOSEPHINE BONAPARTE 

N O heroine ever lived in any book who had a 
more exciting and thrilling life than did Marie 
Rose Josephine Bonaparte, the wife of the famous 
Napoleon. She is one of the most pathetic figures 
in modern history and her whole life was full of 
adventure and sorrow, even though she lived most 
of the time in grand mansions and palaces. There 
was little of peace and contentment in this beautiful 
woman’s short life of fifty-one years. 

Marie Joseph Rose Tascherde la Pagerie was born 
on the twenty-third of June, 1767, near Martinique 
in the Trois Islets, being the eldest of quite a family 
of children. Her father was a poor, shiftless, 
poverty-stricken planter, and the mother, though 
well educated, was bound on every side by lack of 
money. Marie was a lively baby and probably the 
37 



38 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


happiest days of her life were spent in that poor 
little home helping her mother, although in those 
days her poor little body often ached because she 
was so tired. Marie was a great dreamer, but even 
she never dreamed of being an empress, as she after¬ 
ward became, and in those days she was called Marie 
Joseph. It was many years afterward that the Jo¬ 
seph was changed to Josephine and the Marie 
dropped. 

Because no one on the little island ever thought 
that the young girl would become famous in history 
no record was kept of her childhood, and she prob¬ 
ably lived and grew as did the other children of that 
time. History first records something more per¬ 
taining to Marie Josephine when her aunt, who was 
a housekeeper for the Viscomte Alexandre Beau- 
harnais’s father, wrote to Marie’s father asking for 
one of his girls in marriage for the young boy. By 
this time Marie had several sisters, and her father 
wrote back that the lad could have his second daugh¬ 
ter, Catherine Desiree, but before the marriage 
could be arranged the young girl died. Then it was 
suggested that Nanette, the third girl, should be 
taken instead. Marie was very disappointed that her 
father had not suggested her, although, she was 
older than the Viscomte, and by and by coaxed him 
to let her go instead. 

Late in the autumn of 1779 Marie landed in 
France, for it had been decided by her parents to 
let her go, and the little Nanette who gave up this 
privilege died a few years later. Soon after Marie’s 
meeting with Beauharnais they were married in the 


JOSEPHINE BONAPARTE 


39 


parish church of Noisy-le-Grand. No more than a 
child herself Marie knew nothing about marriage 
and men and the strangeness of the new country 
frightened her, but she tried to be happy. 

Her husband was a gay young soldier in command 
of an army on the Rhine and knew nothing about 
girls, and he and his wife quarreled continually, 
parting several times and each time being reunited. 
By and by two children, a boy and a girl, Eugene 
and Hortense, came to them. 

After the fall of Robespierre the young husband 
was imprisoned, and for over a hundred days Marie 
was also imprisoned. These were very hard days 
for the young girl and influenced all of her life, mak¬ 
ing her bitter and unsympathetic. Her husband was 
finally led to the guillotine, being one of the last of 
the victims of the Reign of Terror. 

After the death of Beauharnais the young son, 
Eugene, went to Bonaparte, then a commander in 
Paris, and begged that he give back to him his fa¬ 
ther’s sword, which had been taken from him when 
he was imprisoned. Bonaparte gave Eugene the 
sword, and the next day Marie Josephine, still at 
the height of her beauty, called on the general and 
thanked him for restoring the sword. Bonaparte 
was so attracted by her charms that he wooed and 
wed her. 

Napoleon bought a beautiful little estate, which 
he called Malmaison, near Paris, and gave it to 
Marie, or Josephine as he preferred to call her. 
Here the happiest days she spent in France were 
lived, and here she and her ambitious young hus- 


40 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


band and her beautiful children were at peace, but 
not for long. 

The handsome young woman was very happy 
when her husband became the First Consul and was 
invaluable to him, for Marie had always been clever 
as well as intelligent. But Marie Josephine scarcely 
knew what to do when her husband was crowned 
Emperor, for it did not seem so very long before 
when she had been a poor little starving child in 
Martinique. 

It was not long, though, until the young empress 
was to know more of sorrow than she had ever 
known before, for Napoleon fearing for the succes¬ 
sion of the throne plotted to divorce his fair young 
wife. The divorce was granted in 1809, and on the 
twelfth of March of the next year the emperor mar¬ 
ried Marie Louise, a daughter of the emperor of 
Austria. By this time Marie Josephine had learned 
to love the erring young man passionately, and after 
he left her all the brightness seemed to go out of 
her life. 


By and by Napoleon was exiled to Elba and his 
wife. Mane Louise, refused to go with him, but when 
Mane Josephine heard about his misfortune she 
wrote begging him to let her come to comfort him. 
This request Napoleon had to refuse, but before the 
letter could reach her, Marie had died from an attack 
of pleurisy and pneumonia. 



ROSA BONHEUR 

T here probably never lived a more active and 
normal girl than Rosa Bonheur, and although 
she was the greatest woman painter who has ever 
lived, her life was so simple and ordinary that she 
seems just to have been an average girl. Every per¬ 
son who has read about Rosa’s childhood feels in¬ 
stinctively that she would have been a delightful 
playmate, and that when she became a famous lady 
she never lost this winsome charm. Rosa was al¬ 
ways the same kind-hearted, gentle, patient person 
with a cheerful word for everybody. 

Rosa Bonheur was born on the twenty-second of 
March, 1822, at Bordeaux, France. She was bap¬ 
tized Marie Rosalie, but from the very first the 
pink-cheeked, happy baby was called Rosa, as she 
was through all of her life, the name suited her 
41 


42 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


much better than the one given her. Rosa came 
into the midst of a wonderful family, all of whom 
were talented, ambitious, and well educated. Her 
father was a painter and made some very creditable 
pictures, while her mother was a gifted musician, 
so from the very first Rosa was surrounded with 
art and beauty. The two brothers and one sister 
that Rosa had were also painters, and all of the 
children inherited much of their father’s talent for 
painting and their mother’s passionate love for 
beauty. 

Even before Rosa could walk she wanted to pet all 
of the dogs and cats and other animals she saw, and 
from the very first showed such a marked liking for 
animals that her father predicted she would one day 
be a painter of animals. Just how true his predic¬ 
tion was the father probably never stopped to think, 
but as soon as his little daughter could hold a brush 
in her hand he began to give her painting lessons. 

What happy days those were for the Bonheur 
family when all the children gathered about their 
father for painting lessons, while the mother played 
to them soft, gay airs. No wonder that in Rosa’s 
little heart nothing could grow but love and gentle¬ 
ness. Still the parents wished the little daughter 
to become a dressmaker. So many painters in one 
family did not seem hardly right, but little Rosa 
showed so much artistic ability that she was per¬ 
mitted to paint all she liked. 

While Rosa was still a young child the Bonheur 
family removed to Paris, where all of the children 
had a much better opportunity for study. Here the 


ROSA BON HE UR 


43 


young Bonheurs were constant visitors at all of the 
art galleries in the noisy city. Often visitors stopped 
to look at the earnest faces of the young children 
as they studied the pictures and tried so hard to 
copy them. 

But even amidst this happy life there came to the 
Bonheurs a great sorrow, for their mother died in 
1835. The children missed her very much and for 
a time their greatest relief from sorrow was found 
in their painting. Rosa had become more and more 
interested in animals and had learned to know many 
of them so thoroughly that she painted them more 
truthfully than they had ever been painted before. 
So rapidly did Rosa progress with her painting that 
she was still a child herself when she was able to 
give painting lessons to the young princess, Czar- 
torisky. 

When Rosa was only nineteen years old her pic¬ 
ture, “Rabbits Eating Carrots” was displayed at the 
annual Paris exhibition at the Salon, where it won 
a good bit of attention. This made the young artist 
very happy and she determined to study and work 
harder than ever. She had grown from a pretty 
little child into a strong, handsome woman, and had 
often dressed in men’s clothes in order to get about 
better to study the animals she wanted to paint. 
Now she visited every place where animals could be 
found and she observed them so closely that when 
she painted them they almost seemed to move and 
breathe. From her first exhibition until 1855, some 
of Rosa’s paintings were shown in the Salon every 


44 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


year, and in 1848 she was awarded a medal of the 
first class. 

Eosa’s father remarried again in 1845, and soon 
afterward the entire family exhibited pictures in 
the Paris Salon, but none of their pictures called 
forth more attention than Rosa’s paintings. Rosa’s 
pictures, “Goat and Sheep” and “Two Sheep” were 
the first of her pictures to gain real recognition. All 
of her pictures, even her early paintings, are re¬ 
markable for their truthfulness, and probably no 
pictures of animals have been more admired. In 
1865 the Empress Eugenie honored Rosa by giving 
her the Cross of the Legion of Honor. After that 
she received many such honors. 

Perhaps Rosa’s most remarkable and largest pic¬ 
ture is the “Horse Fair,” which was shown in Lon¬ 
don and is now familiar all over the world. It was 
this great painting that established Rosa as a real 
artist for all time. She was very anxious that her 
home city should have the picture in which she had 
put so much of her time, strength and ability, and 
offered it to Bordeaux for six thousand dollars. Later 
it sold in London for sixty thousand dollars and was 
afterward bought for the Metropolitan Museum, 
New York. In 1892 she painted a life-sized picture 
which she called “Horses Threshing Corn” which 
was sold for sixty thousand dollars. 

Among her other pictures that have won the most 
attention are “Plowing in Nivernais,” which hangs 
in the Louvre in Paris, where her “Haymaking Sea¬ 
son in Auvergne” is also. “Deer in the Forest” 
“A Limer-Briquet Hound” and “Weaning the 


ROSA BONHEUR 


45 


Calves” are in the Metropolitan Museum in New 
York City. 

After a busy happy life Rosa died as bravely and 
as happily as she lived, on the twenty-fifth of May, 
1899. 



CHARLOTTE BRONTE 


N O other writer who ever lived made such splen¬ 
did use of winds and storm clouds and driving 
rain,” said Elbert Hubbard about Charlotte Bronte. 
Another critic said, “In no instance do we find a 
closer relation between the life and the work of an 
artist.” Those who have read the Bronte sisters’ 
books and read about their lives can feel the wild, 
solitary breath of the wide moors on which they lived 
in nearly everything that they wrote. Charlotte, es¬ 
pecially, put the emotions and incidents of her life 
into her stories in a way that few other writers have 
ever done, and it is probably for this emotional ap¬ 
peal that “Jane Eyre,” her most famous book, is still 
so popular. 

Mr. Bronte was an Irishman by birth, and a pious 
clergyman in the Church of England, being well ed- 
46 


CHARLOTTE BRONTE 


47 


ucated and having attended college at Cambridge. 
He then settled in a small parish in Yorkshire. Here 
he met and married Maria Bramwell, a dainty, re¬ 
fined little woman with simple tastes and graceful 
manners. 

Here two children came to them to make their 
home a happier place, and just before Charlotte’s 
birth in 1816 the family removed to Thornton. In 
the comfortable little parish house at this place Char¬ 
lotte was born on the sixteenth of April, and from 
the very first her eldest sister, Maria, thought of 
her as her special charge. Charlotte was still too 
young to remember when her father was called to 
fill the only parish church at Haworth. 

Haworth was a very simple little village then, 
just as it is now, and it lies eight hundred feet above 
the sea, “embedded in the moors,” as someone has 
said, and shrouded with the mystery and charm of 
wide barren acres. The wild beauty and strange 
charm of the lonely country soon impressed the little 
Charlotte, and she liked to do nothing better than 
wander with her sisters and one brother out into its 
weird wilderness. 

When Maria was only eight years old their mother 
died, leaving the six small children, and although 
one of their aunts came to look after them, they 
were dependent largely upon their own resources for 
care and entertainment. Their father was very stu¬ 
dious and would often shut himself up in his library 
for hours at a time, while the aunt tried to teach 
the children to sew, cook, and do the other tasks ex¬ 
pected of every girl at that time. 


48 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


From their very babyhood all the Bronte children 
were fond of having stories read to them, and 
themselves learned to read as soon as possible. When 
in the house Maria and Elizabeth, the second oldest 
child, would often gather the children together and 
read to them debates in Parliament and other public 
affairs, which even the youngest seemed to under¬ 
stand. At times when their father was not in his 
study the children delighted in browsing in the 
library, examining and reading in the most ponder¬ 
ous volumes. 

So strongly was the little Charlotte impressed 
with “Pilgrim’s Progress” that one day shortly after 
she was six years old she started out to find the 
Golden City. She had toddled along for a mile when 
she came to a pretty, vine-covered place and stopped 
to rest, and there her aunt found her and took her 
home. Some one asked her what was the best book 
she knew of when she was eight years old and she 
replied quickly, “The Bible,” and without hesitation 
added that the next best book was the “Book of Na¬ 
ture.” 

It may have been very loneliness, or it may have 
been the talents with which they were gifted, that 
made the Bronte children invent and act out plays 
of their own, writing biographies, verses, dramas, 
stories, and so on. These they gathered together into 
volumes that they called magazines, and by the time 
that Charlotte was fourteen years old she had made 
up twenty-two such collections. The father taught 
his children as well as he could and now and then 
they were sent to private boarding schools. But none 


CHARLOTTE BRONTE 


49 


of them was strong, and soon the two eldest girls 
died, leaving Charlotte at the head of the little 
group. 

By and by the three sisters finished their educa¬ 
tion and became teachers and governesses, but 
Emily’s health soon gave out as a governess in a 
large private school with forty pupils, and she came 
home to care for her father, who was fast losing his 
sight, and her only brother who had never been very 
well. Meanwhile Charlotte and Anne, the other sis¬ 
ter, kept on teaching. In 1842 Charlotte and Emily 
decided to go to Brussels to study German and 
French, and here Charlotte taught a year in the 
school which she attended, but she rejoined her fam¬ 
ily in Haworth in 1844, feeling that they needed 
her. 

By this time her father was almost blind, and 
her brother, Bramwell, was in very bad health, while 
Emily and Anne were feeling the touches of the 
dreadful disease which had taken the other sisters. 
But despite all of these obstacles the three sisters 
kept up their studies and their ambitions of some 
day doing something worth while. No one ever lived 
with kinder and more tender hearts than these girls, 
and they were especially kind to all animals who 
soon recognized in them protecting friends. 

In 1845 the three sisters decided to try starting 
a private school of their own to help support the 
family, but no answers came to the numerous let¬ 
ters which the girls sent out. Then one day Char¬ 
lotte happened to find some of Emily’s poems, and 
she was so greatly impressed with them that she 


50 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


decided to gather some of her own and Anne’s poems 
together and have them published in book form. The 
book was issued at their own risk and published 
under the names of Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell. 
It attracted very little attention and it is said that 
only two copies were sold the first year. 

But the indomitable sisters were not discouraged 
and turned their attention to fiction, each writing a 
book. The three novels appeared about the same time, 
Charlotte calling hers “The Professor,” Emily called 
hers “Wuthering Heights” and Anne called hers 
“Agnes Grey.” Emily’s and Anne’s books soon 
found a publisher, but Charlotte’s was not published 
for some time, being refused by the same publisher 
who in 1847 took “Jane Eyre” and after its great 
success bought Charlotte’s first book. 

A short time after the appearance of the sisters’ 
books in 1848 Bramwell Bronte died, thus relieving 
the girls from their long night vigils, and it seemed 
as though a happier life might open up for the three 
talented sisters in which they might devote more 
time to their work. But in the spring of the next 
year Emily died and Anne became seriously ill and 
was taken by Charlotte to Scarborough in the hope 
that the sea air would help her. The hope was 
vain and Anne soon joined the sisters, brother and 
mother who had gone before her. Thus, inside of 
eight months, Charlotte lost all of her family but 
her father, to whom she returned immediately. 

In the following seven years Charlotte’s literary 
work won a good bit of recognition, even though at 
first she still wrote under the name of Currer Bell. 


CHARLOTTE BRONTE 


61 


During this time she became acquainted with Mrs. 
Elizabeth Gaskill, another writer, who later wrote 
a biography of Charlotte. She made occasional trips 
to London where she met other famous men and 
women. 

On the twenty-ninth of June, 1854, Charlotte mar¬ 
ried Arthur Bell Nichols, her father’s curate, but in 
less than a year she died and was buried in the home 
church grounds at Haworth, beside her mother, sis¬ 
ters and brother. 




ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING 

P OETRY has been as serious a thing to me as 
life itself; and life has been a very serious thing. 
I never mistook pleasure for the final cause of poetry, 
nor leisure for the hour of the poet. I have done 
my work, so far, as work—in the completest expres¬ 
sion of my personal being to which I could attain.” 
So wrote Elizabeth Barrett Browning, whom compe¬ 
tent critics have considered the greatest woman poet 
England has ever produced. 

Elizabeth Barrett was born on the sixth of March, 
1806, at Coxhoe Hall in Durham, England. There 
were two other daughters and eight sons in the 
family, of which Edward, the eldest boy, was always 
Elizabeth’s favorite brother. The Barrett children 
had many happy times together, and it was not long 
until little Elizabeth became very fond of everything 

52 


ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING 


S3 


that was good and beautiful. Nothing gave her more 
or deeper joy than the great outdoors; and this en¬ 
joyment remained with her during all her life, and 
is often referred to in poems she wrote afterward. 

Elizabeth’s parents were cultured folk and from 
the very first taught their children many things be¬ 
yond the knowledge of most children their ages. 
When Elizabeth grew older she was sent to various 
schools. But she was never a strong and robust child, 
and as she grew older her health did not improve, 
despite all of her outdoor exercises. At a very early 
age Elizabeth began to write poetry, but she was 
ashamed of these little poems in later years. 

Her mother died before she was eight years old, 
leaving an empty place in the Barrett household and 
in little Elizabeth’s heart. Very soon after this sad 
event Mr. Barrett took his children and went to 
live on a new estate purchased in Herefordshire, 
among the beautiful Malvern Hills, where Eliza¬ 
beth lived for twenty years. Every day of her stay 
in this picturesque place she grew to love it more 
and more. 

Because Elizabeth was so modest and timid she 
did not desire anyone to write a biography about 
her life, so unfortunately little is known about her 
earlier life. We know only that she was a very hap¬ 
py, carefree girl. Her older brothers and sisters 
were always ready and eager to protect and help 
the delicate little Elizabeth, who was always so 
cheerful. Despite her health Elizabeth was a regular 
tomboy and liked nothing better than to ride horse¬ 
back and go fishing and swimming with her brothers. 


54 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


One day when she was fifteen years old Elizabeth 
accidentally fell from a horse and injured her back, 
and for a long time she was confined to her room. 
This was very hard for the active little girl to bear, 
but naturally gave her more time for her writing. 
Her love of “Homer” led her into a deep study of 
Greek which fascinated her with a strange attrac¬ 
tion. As she was unable to attend school her father 
employed Stuart Boyd, a man of great learning and 
attainments, though blind, to be his daughter’s guide. 
In after years when Elizabeth described him she 
said he was “enthusiastic for the good and the beau¬ 
tiful, and one of the most simple and upright of hu¬ 
man beings.” In the sonnets she wrote some years 
afterward she refers to Mr. Boyd as her “Wine of 
Cyprus.” 

During these years the brain of Elizabeth grew 
marvelously and in 1826 she had a little volume of 
essays published, entitled “Essays of the Mind and 
Other Poems.” From that time her rise to fame was 
rapid. During the years which followed, Elizabeth 
was a very busy and happy person and wrote when¬ 
ever she could. In 1835 the family removed to Lon¬ 
don, where Elizabeth enjoyed many literary advan¬ 
tages that she was denied when living in the coun¬ 
try, and it was about this time that she met Miss 
Mary Russell Mitford, one of the greatest authors 
of the time. 

The following year Elizabeth broke a blood ves¬ 
sel in her lungs. As it did not heal, her physicians 
ordered her to go to a milder climate to spend the 
winter. So, in the autumn, the delicate Elizabeth 


ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING 55 

with her shower of dark curls, her eldest brother 
and a few relatives went to Torquay, Devonshire. 

Nothing seemed more beautiful to Elizabeth than 
this wonderful, quiet country with its wealth of sun¬ 
shine, and she was very bright and happy. Over and 
over again she thought of the wonderful writing she 
would be able to do in such favorable surroundings. 
Then on one of the most perfect of mornings her 
brother and two of his friends started to cross the 
bar and the boat went down, all three being 
drowned. 

At first her family was afraid to tell Elizabeth, 
for there was no one she loved more than her brother 
Edward. But she had to be told, and she was utterly 
prostrated with grief. All winter she heard the 
waves moaning like some dead soul in grief. Her 
wild spirit roamed and cried for peace, but by and 
by she recovered enough to be taken back to London, 
as she so yearned to do. Here she rallied and again 
found solace in her beloved books and started to 
write poems again. From time to time she issued 
new volumes of poetry. Her book, “Seraphim and 
Other Poems” had appeared during these trying 
days. 

“The Cry of the Children” and “Lady Geraldine’s 
Courtship” were among the poems written at this 
period of Elizabeth’s life. In 1844 there appeared 
her “Drama of Exile,” in which she included all that 
she wished to preserve of previous published mate¬ 
rial. Among them was a poem which held a refer¬ 
ence to Robert Browning, whose poetry she had read 
and found pleasure in. She had written “Or from 


66 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


Browning some pomegranate which, if cut down 
deep the middle shows a heart within blood-tinc¬ 
tured, of a vein humanity.” The book happened to 
come to the attention of Robert Browning, already 
well known as the author of “Paracelsus,” and he de¬ 
cided that he could do nothing less than thank the 
writer for these beautiful lines. 

There followed an exchange of numerous letters 
between Robert Browning and Elizabeth and at last 
he called on the invalid and was allowed to enter 
her room. He was greatly astonished at Elizabeth’s 
bright, happy nature, and almost immediately fell 
in love with her. Mr. Barrett violently opposed his 
daughter marrying because of her delicate health. 
But, defying her father’s orders, the two were mar¬ 
ried on the tenth of September, 1846, and immedi¬ 
ately went to Italy. 

For over twenty years the Brownings lived and 
wrote in Florence, and some of Mrs. Browning’s 
greatest works were written here. Here she wrote 
her “Sonnets from the Portuguese,” which are all 
love sonnets recording the growth of love between 
the author and her husband. Elizabeth did not show 
them to her husband till some time after their mar¬ 
riage, when he insisted upon her offering them for 
publication. “From the Portuguese” were words used 
to disguise the poems, and which were retained when 
they were published. 

_ Mrs. Browning became deeply interested in the 
history and fate of the new country in which she 
lived, and learned to love it as much as she had Eng¬ 
land. Three years after their marriage there came 


ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING 57 

to the Brownings a beautiful, blue-eyed, golden¬ 
haired son, and ever afterward the natives spoke 
of Elizabeth as “the mother of the beautiful child.” 
The son grew up and became a noted sculptor and 
died a few years ago in this country, almost as well 
known and beloved as were his famous father and 
mother. 

In 1856 appeared Mrs. Browning’s longest work, 
which though not an autobiography, embodies much 
of her experience and presents many of her ideas 
and beliefs. She called it “Aurora Leigh” and 
ranked it as her best poem. Most critics, however, 
consider her “Sonnets from the Portuguese” her 
greatest poem. 

Death came and took this cheerful author on the 
twenty-ninth of June, 1861, in her beautiful Flor¬ 
ence home. As she lay cheerfully waiting for the 
end the last words of her happy life were uttered. 
“It is beautiful,” she murmured, even as she gasped 
for breath. 





ALICE CARY 

S O closely were the sisters Alice and Phoebe Cary 
united in their lives that whenever the name of 
one is mentioned we also think of the other. There 
have been but few such beautiful personal devotions 
portrayed in the literary world as the affections of 
these two simple, talented girls. 

Alice Cary, the elder of the sisters, was born April 
26, 1820, in a charming little cottage called Clover- 
nook, The house stood in the pretty Miami Valley 
in Ohio, about eight miles north of Cincinnati. On 
every side green fields stretched out to meet blue 
skies, and grass and flowers grew in profusion 
around the cottage, a lure to birds, bees, and butter¬ 
flies. 

i, Carys were in very moderate circumstances, 
but had a good education, and from the first they 

58 


ALICE CARY 


59 


surrounded their little daughter with all the things 
that would make her desire an education. When 
Alice was four years old her sister Phoebe was born, 
and all the rest of their lives they were the most 
devoted comrades. Their parents died while they 
were young, leaving them the rich heritage of noble 
characters. 

All the education the girls obtained so far as going 
to school is concerned, was in the small country 
schoolhouse near their home. But they improved 
their limited opportunities by studying over and 
over again the half dozen choice books they pos¬ 
sessed. Both of the girls learned to love nature pas¬ 
sionately, and often sat for many minutes, trying to 
interpret the song of a bird, the buzz of a bee, or the 
flutter of a butterfly. Both of them were of a gentle, 
quiet, sympathetic nature. They were what might 
be called dreamers. Many an hour they spent to¬ 
gether in some shady nook painting word pictures, 
and weaving delicious little rhymes. And while they 
dreamed and planned they kept talking of the time 
when their poems would make them famous, and 
they could leave Clovernook and journey out into the 
world. They never lost the steadfast faith that some 
day they would write great poems that the world 
would read and admire. 

When Alice was eighteen and her sister fourteen, 
they submitted their first poems to publishers. Alice 
was very timid and sent her first manuscript to the 
National Era, one of the most popular magazines at 
that time, under the name of “Patty Lee.” Her 
poems were so graceful and so full of tender sweet- 


60 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


ness that from the very first they were widely read 
and favorably commented on. Phoebe’s were so 
dainty and childlike, and yet dramatic, that in a few 
years both girls were well knovsm. In 1849 a collec¬ 
tion of their poems was printed in book form, under 
the title of “Poems by Alice and Phoebe Cary,” one 
third of them being by Alice. About this time John 
Greenleaf Whittier wrote the sisters a beautiful let¬ 
ter of encouragement of which they were very proud. 

Shortly after the appearance of this book of poems 
Horace Greeley visited Clovernook, and encouraged 
the Cary girls to come to New York, where he 
thought they would have far greater opportunities. 
So in 1850 they sold their cottage at Clovernook and 
went to the great city to live. They rented a small, 
cheap house and began housekeeping. By economy 
and hard work they managed to get along, and soon 
prosperity began to come their way, and for over 
twenty years they lived happily together. It was not 
long until they became acquainted with the most 
brilliant and famous persons of the time, among 
whom were Horace Greeley, Bayard Taylor, Richard 
and Elizabeth Stoddard and Thomas B. Aldrich. All 
these and many others were delighted to visit the 
cultured and peaceful home of the Cary sisters. 

By^ this time both the girls had become constant 
contributors to leading periodicals of the country. 
Alice wrote “Clovernook Sketches,” “Lyra and 
other Poems,” “Hagar, A Story of Today,” “Ballads, 
Lyrics and Hymns,” “Pictures of Country Life,” 
“Stories Told to a Child,” “Married, Not Mated’” 
“The Bishop’s Son,” “The Lover’s Diary,” and 


ALICE CARY 


61 


^‘Snow Berries, A Book for Young Folks,besides 
the volumes of poetry she wrote with Phoebe. Her 
novels were widely and eagerly read for their charm¬ 
ing descriptions of domestic life. 

The last few years of her life Alice was a hope¬ 
less invalid, suffering pain almost continually, but 
her gentle spirit never faltered in its calmness. Her 
sister Phoebe nursed her devotedly. With the same 
peace in which she lived, this noble girl and charm¬ 
ing, sympathetic poet died on February 12, 1871. 
Heart-broken and lonely her fond sister, Phoebe, 
joined her a few years later. The fragrance of these 
two lives still lingers to charm and inspire others to 
nobler thoughts and deeds. 




PHOEBE CARY 

O N the fourth of September, 1824, there was 
born in a little brown house in the Miami Val¬ 
ley in Ohio, a little girl. The parents decided to 
call the new baby Phoebe, for the oldest girl had been 
named Rowena, the second Susan, and the next was 
Rhoda who died in 1833 and was the constant chum 
of the well-known Alice, who came next. Then came 
Asa, who was delighted with his new sister, and 
when Phoebe was only a few years old another little 
brother named Warren came to play with her. By 
and by came Lucy, who was the image of her mother, 
and who died not quite a month after Rhoda. Last 
of all came a little girl, who lived for some time with 
her older sisters. With such a large household it is 
easy to fancy that the little Phoebe was never lone¬ 
some. 


62 


PHOEBE CARY 


63 


Phoebe’s father was a man of great knowledge and 
he had very high ideals and principles, and loved to 
read. He was especially fond of poetry and ro¬ 
mances, and liked to talk about these to his children. 
None of them listened more rapturously than did 
Alice and Phoebe. Alice declared in later years that 
Rhoda would have been the greatest writer of them 
all, had she lived. However much the children loved 
their gentle, refined mother, it was their father who 
sang them to sleep and whom they nearly worshiped. 
The father had served as a soldier in the War of 
1812, and what child does not admire a soldier? 
Among the most characteristic traits of Phoebe was 
her pride in her family ancestors, and she would al¬ 
ways, even in the last years of her life, point proudly 
to the family’s coat of arms hanging in some promi¬ 
nent place on the wall. 

At that time there were few school houses in that 
part of Ohio, so the Cary children were taught most¬ 
ly at home. But later on a plain one-story brick 
school was built a mile and a quarter from the Cary 
home, and at last Phoebe and her sisters and broth¬ 
ers were sent to school. Sometime in July, 1835, the 
mother died, and after that for a long time the home 
was very sad and lonely. Alice said afterward, that 
after they built the new house there was nothing 
but sorrow and death for them, and how often they 
all wished they were back again in the little low 
brown house. 

In 1837 Mr. Cary married again, but the new 
mother thought it was better for Phoebe and her 
sisters and brothers to work than to read and write, 


64 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


SO there was little time to make the charming 
rhymes that Phoebe and Alice had delighted so in 
dreaming about. But whenever Phoebe had time she 
would write down the thoughts that came thronging 
in her fertile little brain, and she and Alice would 
dream and talk about the days to come when they 
would sell these poems. In later years Phoebe was 
probably thinking of these trying days when she 
wrote the little poem that has been memorized by 
so many children since; 

“If a task is once begun, 

Never leave it till it’s done; 

Be the labor great or small. 

Do it ■well, or not at all.” 

By and by the father built another house, and he 
and his wife moved to it, leaving the three sisters 
and two brothers together. The elder sisters had 
married some time before. This again made their 
home life beautiful, and the little Phoebe and her 
sister, Alice, found much more time to study and to 
write poetry. But in all the years that came after 
they never forgot their love of the little brown house, 
the orchard, the nearby creek, and the scenery that 
surrounded their childhood home. By and by the 
sistera began sending out their poems to various pub¬ 
lications and many were printed, so in May, 1849, 
they gathered together all the poems they had writ¬ 
ten to have them published in a book. In 1850 
Phoebe and Alice went to New York on a visit and 
there met Horace Greeley, who was ever afterward 
their friend. Not long after their return to “Clover- 
nook,” as they called their home, Alice decided she 


PHOEBE CARY 


65 


would have better opportunities to work in New 
York and went there to live. This left Phoebe and 
Elmina with the two brothers. But the sisters 
missed one another so much they went to New York 
to live, too. 

There was nothing in the lives of Phoebe and 
Alice Cary that they treasured more than their beau¬ 
tiful home life, so the three decided they must have 
a home even if it was humble. So they rented small 
rooms and cleaned and papered them themselves, 
and later on as they made more money they changed 
several times. By and by they bought a pretty house 
on Twentieth Street, which soon became the gather¬ 
ing place of some of the most distinguished people 
of the time. Among these were Bayard Taylor, Rich¬ 
ard and Elizabeth Stoddard, Thomas B. Aldrich, 
Robert Chambers, Mary E. Dodge, Phineas S. 
Barnum, Elizabeth C. Stanton, Henry Ward Beecher 
and many other noted persons. 

It is impossible to think of Phoebe and Alice Cary 
apart, so deeply were their lives interwoven, yet 
they were entirely different in appearance and had 
very few resemblances in character. Phoebe looked 
like a Spanish lady, slightly below ordinary height, 
with merry black eyes. She talked veiy rapidly, but 
well. Phoebe was always deeply devotional, and was 
ever ready to champion the cause of temperance, 
and no woman ever lived who loved justice more. 
True to her Spanish appearance, this gifted singer, 
though very modest, was fond of decoration and 
bright colors, and being a good sewer she liked to 
fashion for herself many dainty, gorgeous colored 


66 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


frocks. Unlike Alice, Phoebe was fond of admira¬ 
tion, but it never made her vain. So devotedly did 
these two sisters, who had lived so many years to¬ 
gether, love each other, that when in 1867, Phoebe 
had an offer of marriage from the only man she ever 
loved, she refused him that she might stay with her 
sister. 

Although Phoebe had the most vigorous health, 
she had learned to lean always on Alice, and there 
was nothing she dreaded more than responsibility. 
At one time she was chosen assistant editor of the 
Revolution, and her sister desired her to keep this 
position very much, but it was so distasteful to 
Phoebe that she resigned in a few months. From 
her great faith in the visible and invisible good of 
everything Phoebe wrote her song, by which she is 
best known, ^'Nearer Home.’^ No one can read the 
words and not be touched by the simple faith of this 
country-hearted girl, who with her sister, through 
all the years they lived in the busy city, still kept 
many of their country habits. 

‘‘One sweetly solemn thought 
Comes to me o'er and o'er; 

I am nearer home today 

Than I ever have been before." 

Phoebe Cary’s parodies are unsurpassed, and are 
full of the sparkling wit and cleverness with which 
she was ever overflowing. She probably cared most 
for her poem “Women’s Conclusions,” out of the 
many that she wrote, for she was a true believer in 
the equal rights foP women. But she will always be 
best known for her religious poems, which so deeply 


PHOEBE CARY 


67 


impressed others and gave them renewed faith and 
courage. Resurgam,” her last poem, is filled with 
a vibration of grief, yet, like the last stanza of 
“Nearer Home,” is full of a throbbing plea for more 
faith. 

During the time that Phoebe lived in New York 
she helped edit several books, and among her own 
books appeared “Poems and Parodies” and “Poems 
of Faith, Hope and Love.” Phoebe was never such 
a tireless worker as was Alice, and neither did she 
ever know the sorrows and grief that the elder sister 
knew. Little by little the fragile constitution of 
Alice weakened. Even before the older sister died 
on the thirteenth of February, 1871, Phoebe had 
symptoms of the dreaded family disease that had 
taken so many of the Carys. But during all the long 
months of Alice’s illness Phoebe waited on her, and 
after she was gone she tried to go on bravely as she 
felt Alice would love to have her do. It was all in 
vain, for neither sister could have lived long without 
the other, so closely had their lives become united, 
and on the thirty-first of July, 1871, Phoebe joined 
her sister. 

Phoebe died at Newport, having been taken there 
from her New York home, in the hope that the sea 
air would help her, and her body was brought back 
to the pretty house on Twentieth Street, and laid in 
Greenwood Cemetery beside Alice and Elmina. 
Phoebe’s last words, “0, God, have mercy on my 
soul,” were characteristic of her whole life, for there 
never lived a child, who grew into womanhood, who 
desired more to do what was right. 



CLEOPATRA 

I F the nose of Cleopatra had been shorter, the 
whole face of the earth would have been 
changed.” So said Blaise Pascal, and few women 
have had so great and powerful a part in the history 
of the ancient world. Cleopatra was one of the most 
celebrated, as well as one of the most beautiful rul¬ 
ers of the world and her magic power was almost 
invincible. She had a charm that infatuated almost 
every man who saw her and gave her strength which 
she otherwise would not have had. 

Cleopatra was the daughter of Ptolemy Auletes, 
one of the most dissolute and dissipated of all an¬ 
cient rulers. She was born in 69 or 70 B. C. in 
Alexandria, one of the most splendid and lawless 
cities of the time, and the glamorous environment 
had a strong influence on the little child. 


68 


CLEOPATRA 


69 


As Cleopatra grew older she became more willful 
and thoughtless even while she acquired greater 
beauty and attraction. All the wildness and unre¬ 
straint of court life was taken advantage of by the 
child and these surroundings made a strong im¬ 
pression on Cleopatra. 

From her babyhood days Cleopatra was made to 
understand that she was born to rule, to patronize 
people and to try and get everything that she want¬ 
ed. All of her early teachings were a foundation on 
which the young girl’s later life was built. There 
were no cozy days at home for the girl, no family life, 
no good advice, nothing that would help to strength¬ 
en and purify her character. Her education was 
neglected, and nothing useful was taught to the gay 
young maid. There seemed to be no need for her to 
learn anything but to allure, for was she not des¬ 
tined to rule a great part of the earth? In later 
years when she was known as the “Serpent of the 
Nile,” Cleopatra often thought of these days of 
training when she would have much rather been a 
carefree, innocent girl enjoying the pleasures of the 
common people. 

When she was only fifteen years old Cleopatra 
became deeply attached to Mark Antony, a com¬ 
mander of the Roman army stationed at Alexandria, 
and it is upon the incidents of this friendship that 
Shakespeare wrote the play “Antony and Cleo¬ 
patra.” When the handsome young commander was 
sent away Cleopatra was very lonesome and sought 
for other entertainment. During all the events that 
followed, until Cleopatra met Antony again and 


70 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


despite many other infatuations, she never forgot 
him and it is probable if she could have had the wish 
of her heart many of the incidents which occurred 
would never have happened, 

Ptolemy Auletes died when Cleopatra was seven¬ 
teen years old and she and her brother, whose name 
was also Ptolemy, became joint rulers of the king¬ 
dom. According to an ancient Egyptian custom 
Cleopatra was married to her twelve-year-old broth¬ 
er, which was a grievous bondage to the impetuous 
young girl, killing all of her romantic dreams. No 
queen ever lived who was fonder of admiration than 
was Cleopatra, and this seemed to put a stop to her 
admirers. 

Soon some of Ptolemy’s advisers overthrew Cleo¬ 
patra’s power and drove her from the throne. Cleo¬ 
patra went to Syria where she tried to collect an 
army, but was unsuccessful. However she met 
Julius Caesar, who at once became infatuated with 
her and offered to aid her with his strong armies. 
Ptolemy was soon dethroned and killed. 

Cleopatra’s second brother, also named Ptolemy 
and only eleven years old, was placed on the throne 
with her, but on Caesar’s return Cleopatra accom¬ 
panied him to Rome and lived with him till his death 
Upon her return to Egypt she had her brother killed 
that her son, Caesarion, might be the heir. Cleo¬ 
patra assisted the triumvirs in the civil war at Rome 
and after the battle of Philippi she sailed to join 
Mark Antony at Tarsus. So overjoyed was the queen 
to meet her old lover that the meeting was cele¬ 
brated with great festivals and she accompanied him 








































































































































































72 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


to Tyre, and Antony later followed her to Egypt. 

After the conquest of Armenia Antony returned 
and made four of Cleopatra’s sons kings. At the 
commencement of the war between Augustus and 
Antony the latter lost a whole year attending fes¬ 
tivals and amusements with Cleopatra at Epheus, 
Samos and Athens. When fleets met at Actium 
Cleopatra thought she was to be conquered and 
took flight with all of her ships. Antony in fright, 
followed. 

When Antony reached Egypt he was told that 
Cleopatra had committed suicide, and thinking that 
the beautiful woman had betrayed him for Octavi¬ 
us Caesar Antony fell on his sword. Full of remorse 
and repentance for her lawless ways Cleopatra 
nursed Antony carefully, but despite this devotion 
he died. 

True to her character upon Antony’s death Cleo¬ 
patra tried to make Octavius fall in love with her 
but was unsuccessful. In despair she ended her life 
in A. D. 30. 



^jcurwroj 


FANNY CROSBY 

N O woman has been loved more than has Fanny 
Crosby, nor is any other writer of hymns so 
well known. A church service is scarcely complete 
without one of her songs. In the simple, sacred trust 
for her Savior, with which her hymns are filled, her 
memory will live forever. With the exception of 
Charles Wesley and Isaac Watts, she wrote more 
song-poems than any other person, and composed 
over nine thousand hymns, using two hundred dif¬ 
ferent pen names. 

Frances Jane Crosby was born in South East, 
New York, on March the twenty-fourth, 1820. She 
was a bright, active child, full of contentment and 
happiness, her genial nature and charming manner 
attracting everyone. Although poor, her parents 
were well educated, and religious, and they taught 


73 


74 DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 

their small daughter to reverence all things beau¬ 
tiful, and to be kind to all living things. She was 
given animals for pets, and taught to take care of 
them. 

When she was only six years old, Fanny, as she 
was familiarly called by everyone, had severe trou¬ 
ble with her eyes, and one day they were greatly 
inflamed. A hot poultice was made and put on them, 
with the hope that it would relieve the pain; in¬ 
stead, the lustrous light in the eyes was put out for¬ 
ever. Her parents did everything that was possible 
to restore her sight, and she was taken to the best 
eye specialists, but nothing could be done for her. 
Not for a moment, though, did the bright, hopeful, 
childish faith change, and Fanny still continued 
playing and laughing with other children. When 
she was only eight years old, she wrote her first poem 
on her blindness. In this she mentioned, that though 
she was blind, she was determined to be happy. 

At the age of fifteen she entered the Institution 
for the Blind in New York, and the teachers were 
greatly impressed by her wonderful talent for com¬ 
posing. On many occasions she was chosen to ad¬ 
dress distinguished audiences. These speeches she 
always made in verse form, and all were of her own 
composition. Her pleasant personality and charm¬ 
ing speeches made her a great favorite. While in 
the school she met many famous persons, among 
them being Horace Greeley, Henry Clay, and Wil¬ 
liam Cullen Bryant. 

Fanny was the most intelligent pupil in the school, 
graduating in 1842. Two years later her first book 


FANNY CROSBY 


75 


of poems entitled “A Blind Girl and Other Poems” 
was published. In 1847 she reentered the school she 
had graduated from as a teacher of English gram¬ 
mar, rhetoric, and Roman and Greek history. In this 
position she was well loved, and as much a favorite 
as she had been when a pupil. For eleven years she 
was a faithful instructor, during which time she 
also continued writing poetry. In 1853 she began 
writing popular songs, continuing till 1858, but none 
are as well known as her hymns. In 1858 she mar¬ 
ried Alexander Van Alystine, a pupil in the school, 
but still continued writing under her maiden name. 
The year of her marriage “A Wreath of Columbia’s 
Flowers,” another book of poems, appeared. Her 
first Sunday School hymn was written in 1864, and 
after that nearly all she wrote was hymns. 

“Safe in the Arms of Jesus” was her favorite 
hymn, and is probably the best known of all her 
songs. She completed the words of each poem in her 
mind before dictating them to anyone, carefully fit¬ 
ting the words together. Among Fanny Crosby’s 
most familiar hymns are “Never Give Up,” “Blessed 
Assurance,” “Pass Me Not,” “My Saviour First of 
All,” and many more. Even the titles of her hymns 
are full of faith and optimism. The words of the 
chorus of “Close to Thee” typifies the faith and 
brightness of her whole life: 

“Close to Thee, close to Thee; 

All along my pilgrim journey, 

Saviour let me walk with Thee.” 

She composed songs till four days before her death. 
Her last poem, “Look Up, Lift Up,” was written 


76 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


for the Epworth League of the Christian Church of 
Shelton, Connecticut, and the last stanza seems to 
convey a prophecy of her last home going. 

I hear the bells of Eden; 

I catch their silver chime, 

By cool and sparkling fountain, 

Beyond the arch of time. 

I know our Lord and Master 
His own will safely bring. 

With millions, countless millions. 

His worthy praise to sing. 

With faith and zeal still burning brightly in her 
soul, and a pleasant smile upon her peaceful face, 
Fanny Crosby died February the twelfth, 1915. 





CHARLOTTE CUSHMAN 

A rt is an absolute mistress; she will not be co- 
. quetted with or slighted; she requires the most 
entire self-devotion, and she repays with grand tri¬ 
umphs.” So said Charlotte Cushman, for many years 
the foremost actress on the American stage. Miss 
Cushman’s every thought, act and effort in life were 
given to her art and she became one of the greatest 
tragic actresses who ever lived. To her goes the honor 
of being the first member belonging to the theatrical 
profession to have her name placed in the Hall of 
Fame, which act was done in 1915. 

There was great rejoicing in the cozy little Cush¬ 
man home in Boston one day in 1816 when a baby 
girl was born there. It took a long time for the 
fond parents to decide what they would call the new 
child and at last they concluded that it should be 

77 


78 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


Charlotte Saunders. But they as well as everyone 
else agreed that even such a fine name was not half 
good enough for the little girl. Charlotte grew fast 
and her happiness grew with her, for even as a baby 
she was generous and gay-hearted. 

Little Charlotte was a very apt pupil and when 
she could scarcely more than toddle she knew how to 
do things that other girls in their teens had yet to 
learn to do. It was about this time, too, that the lit¬ 
tle girl discovered she had a voice, a fine contralto, 
other people said, and she enjoyed nothing more than 
singing. No matter where she was her mother 
could always hear that happy little voice singing 
snatches of song, pausing now and then to rest, then 
starting again with renewed strength and sweet¬ 
ness. Because of her sweet voice and genial manners 
Charlotte was a great favorite with her playmates, 
as well as with their fathers and mothers. 

During the days of Charlotte’s early girlhood the 
Cushmans were in comfortable circumstances. There 
was not the least worry about the young girl’s fu¬ 
ture, and no one thought that she would ever be com¬ 
pelled to support herself. It was not long before dis¬ 
aster came and swept away all of the Cushman’s 
snug little fortune, so that each member of the little 
family had to help where he could. 

By this time Charlotte knew that she had a prom¬ 
ising voice, and her friends believed that with train¬ 
ing she might have something of a career, so she 
was given a chance. After some study Charlotte 
began to give singing lessons and also sang in a 
choir, at concerts and in opera. 


CHARLOTTE CUSHMAN 


79 


Charlotte delighted to sing and it was a real joy 
to hear her. She worked hard and diligently, giv¬ 
ing all of her time and strength to her art, even as in 
later years she did to her other career. But misfor¬ 
tune was not through with Charlotte and one night 
when she was singing in the opera at New Orleans 
her voice failed her. The young girl knew she had 
strained it and feared to think of what would hap¬ 
pen to her and her family. 

Charlotte was so discouraged and disheartened 
she scarcely knew what to do. In despair she told 
her troubles to the manager of the theater. After 
giving her a bit of sympathy he said, “You ought 
to be an actress, not a singer.” It is perhaps to this 
man’s suggestion and help that the world owes 
Charlotte’s career. The manager suggested that if 
she would study the dramatic parts of a few of the 
plays he would get the tragedian of the theater to 
listen to her. 

Charlotte studied these parts hard and was gladly 
given a trial, and the manager was so surprised and 
delighted with her acting that he immediately asked 
her to try playing Lady Macbeth. Experienced 
actresses state this is one of the most difficult and 
exacting of roles to play, but Charlotte knew noth¬ 
ing about actresses’ trials at the time and accepted 
gladly. Confident, radiant, full of emotion, Char¬ 
lotte made a great success in the play, and turned 
from an operatic to a dramatic career. Lady Mac¬ 
beth was always one of Miss Cushman’s greatest 
roles, even in her last years, but she never played it 
more feelingly than she did that first night. 


80 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


Charlotte now returned to New York where she 
was engaged for three years by the manager of the 
Bowery Theater, and continued with the same hard 
work. Never was a young girl more determined to 
succeed in a career than was Charlotte and her fond¬ 
est dream was to get her family reunited. She was 
so homesick that she finally decided to send for her 
mother and other members of the family to come to 
live in New York and enjoy her success. 

It was a happy day when most of the Cushmans 
were together and Charlotte looking at their bright 
faces was more determined than ever to succeed. 
How she yearned to give her loved ones a comfort¬ 
able home and the things they needed and wanted 
so much. But once again the grim fate that had 
visited her before came and took Charlotte in hand, 
visiting her with a severe illness which made it nec¬ 
essary to cut her New York engagement to one week. 

One week instead of three years seemed almost 
the height of tragedy to the young girl, but as if 
that was not enough the theater burned, making the 
manager a bankrupt, and destroying all of Char¬ 
lotte s costumes. Charlotte had been in debt on them 
and now she also had her family to support, and 
she herself ill. Her case seemed hopeless and even 
Charlotte lost her happy smile for a time. 

But even this grim crisis was lived through. When 
Charlotte recovered from the illness an opportunity 
to play minor parts in the Park Theater was offered 
to her, and there she stayed for three years, very 
grateful that she had work to do and could do it. 
She worked as hard as she could to master all the 


CHARLOTTE CUSHMAN 


81 


details of the stage and was more determined than 
ever to succeed. Her earnestness, as well as the qual¬ 
ity of her work, began to win attention, for Char¬ 
lotte was a true actress. 

When John Braham produced the dramatization 
of Scott’s “Guy Mannering,” Charlotte’s chance 
came. She was an understudy, as Meg Merrilies. 
Charlotte had only an hour or two to study the part 
but the young girl put such force and power into 
the part that the star was eclipsed and she was the 
heroine of the evening. After that Charlotte played 
this part hundreds of times, always effectively and 
vividly. 

In 1843, Macready, the great English tragedian, 
came to visit the United States and after seeing 
Charlotte act he spoke of her with great praise. 
After that the young woman’s acting position was 
securely fixed and her popularity grew rapidly. Al¬ 
though Charlotte occasionally played in high comedy 
from this time on she was best known as a trage¬ 
dienne, and it is as such that the world remembers 
her. 

Soon after Macready’s visit Miss Cushman de¬ 
cided to go abroad and she visited London and 
Dublin, remaining abroad several years, and every¬ 
where was a great success. The latter part of her 
life was spent in New York City. On her last ap¬ 
pearance on the stage in November, 1874, in New 
York City, Miss Cushman was presented with a 
laurel crown, William Cullen Bryant acting as 
spokesman. Charlotte died in 1876. 


V^nj^jA/rjAxi S)jCU-uj 


VIRGINIA DARE 

I T is hard to even imagine that there v?as once a 
time when there were no white girls and boys in 
this country, in fact no white people at all. It was in 
1587 that Sir Walter Raleigh sent one hundred and 
fifty persons, including seventeen women, and John 
White as governor of the colony, to Roanoke Island, 
North Carolina. Among these colonists was a happy, 
active couple known as Ananias and Eleanor Dare. 
Ananias had been appointed one of the assistant 
governors. 

Mrs. Dare was Governor White’s daughter and 
he was glad to have her and her husband with him 
in the strange new country. Everybody went to 
work with eager happiness and soon some rough 
houses were finished, and by and by other rude 
buildings were constructed. The place where these 


VIRGINIA DARE 


83 


colonists made their home is now known as Mateo, 
North Carolina, but at that time was known as part 
of Virginia, having been so named by Sir Walter 
Raleigh in honor of the queen. Despite hard work 
and their strange surroundings the settlers were 
very happy in their new homes, and no one enjoyed 
the novelty of the new country more than did the 
Dares. ^Who ever had a finer wedding journey?^^ 
Eleanor asked her husband, when he questioned her 
about liking her new home. 

Then on the eighteenth of August of the same 
year that the colonists came, a baby daughter came 
to the Dares, and because the baby was born in Vir¬ 
ginia, that Sunday morning when she was christened 
everyone agreed she should be named Virginia. 
There was great rejoicing over the baby girl. Even 
the Indians who lived around the settlement came to 
see Virginia, for the colonists had tried to make 
friends of these red men. From that time on Mrs. 
Dare was known as the White Doe to the Indians and 
little Virginia as the White Fawn. Even the gravest 
and most severe of the chiefs smiled at Virginia and 
held her with tender care. ^^Little White Papoose, 
little white Papoose,’’ they repeated over and over, 
and we are assured that even though Virginia may 
not have had many playmates of her own color she 
never lacked for Indian friends. 

Over and over again the Indians wondered how 
any creature could be so tiny and so fragile as Vir¬ 
ginia was. In all their travels through the great 
wilderness of this country they had never seen any¬ 
thing which aroused their curiosity more, and they 


84 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


tried offering all kinds of prized possessions to Vir¬ 
ginia’s father and mother for her. 

When Virginia was but ten days old, and still the 
most interesting person in the settlement, Governor 
White returned with the ships to England for sup¬ 
plies for the colonists. He was accompanied by Man- 
teo, a great chief, who was going along to invite 
other English people to come over to this country 
and settle in his domain. 

They all took a tender farewell of the Dares, es¬ 
pecially of little Virginia, who, cooing softly, seemed 
to bid them farewell. That was the last ever seen of 
these early colonists by white men, for when Gov¬ 
ernor White and other Englishmen returned in 1590 
not a trace could be found of any of these people. 

_ It is generally supposed that the colonists became 
victims of the Indians, who, though friendly at the 
start, may have been provoked by something which 
caused them to kill the white people. However, one 
authority states that there is cause to believe'that 
the settlers, finding that they could not struggle on 
alone, joined the Indians. Strachy states that from 
this time on the colonists, including the Dares with 
their blue-eyed, fair-haired daughter, stayed with 
the Indians until about the time that Jamestown was 
settled. This has led to the belief by some that the fa¬ 
mous Pocahontas who saved John Smith’s life was 
none other than Virginia Dare. Strachy explains 
that the coming of more white men annoyed and 
angered the Indians and caused Powhatan much 
worry, and at last at the instigation of this chief 
all but seven of the first colonists were massacred. 


VIRGINIA DARE 


85 


It would be very interesting if the fate of Vir¬ 
ginia Dare and her companions could be known, but 
the exact truth of their disappearance will never be 
known. However, the marble monument, a supposed 
likeness of the fair Virginia, which has been brought 
to her birthplace nearly three and a half centuries 
after her mysterious disappearance, holds almost as 
much romance about it as has been woven around 
the fair little maiden in whose honor it was erected. 

The so-called likeness of Virginia was carved out 
of marble in Rome by Miss Louise Lander, from the 
inspiration of Mrs. R. R. Cotton’s poem, ^The White 
Doe,” written in 1860. Miss Lander took great care 
in carving the statue and tried to put the throbbing, 
happy spirit of youth into its face and body. Prob¬ 
ably nothing that the young sculptress did was done 
with more inspiration and care than this statue. 
Unfortunately on the way to America the ship car¬ 
rying the precious statue was shipwrecked along the 
Spanish coast. 

For two years or more, the carefully carved statue 
lay in the mysterious dark depths of the ocean, de¬ 
fying any searcher to find it, but at last the vessel 
was raised and the statue was found intact and 
taken to New York. Here in the large city, away 
from the wilderness which was probably Virginia’s 
only home, the statue almost met with a greater mis¬ 
fortune, for while on display there it was threatened 
by fire. However, it was saved. Then, through the 
will of Miss Lander, who had died in the meantime, 
the statue was bequeathed to the Hall of History of 
North Carolina, where it was finally taken. 


86 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


Considerable interest was stirred up throughout 
the country when in the early part of 1924 a little 
leaden plate, about the size of an automobile license 
tag, bearing these words was unearthed in Wash¬ 
ington : 

Virginia Dare 
Died here 
Captif Powhatam 
1590 Charles R. 



MADAM DE STAEL 

A lthough at one time Madam de Stael was 
one of the most famous women living, her name 
today is not widely known, though some of her bril¬ 
liant books are still read, and will probably live 
forever. 

Little Anne Louise Germaine Necker, which was 
Madam de Stael’s maiden name, was born sometime 
in 1766, and being the only daughter in the family 
was gladly greeted. Her father, Jacques Necker, was 
a very intelligent and influential man and in 1785 
was appointed to the office of director-general of 
finances under Louis XVI. 

The mother, a Swiss woman, possessed much na¬ 
tive grace and sweetness and was an unusual beau¬ 
ty. She was well educated and witty and taught 
young ladies many of the graces of the times as well 

87 


88 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


as their studies. It was no wonder that Mrs. Necker 
determined that her small daughter’s education 
should be perfect, and even while she was still a 
very small baby she was introduced to the circle of 
brilliant people who constantly gathered about the 
Neckers. 

Germaine, as the little girl was called, was natu¬ 
rally very bright and clever, and in after years when 
she became such a well-known playwright and phil¬ 
osopher it was said of her that she possessed “every 
gift which fortune could lavish on a woman save a 
pretty face.” The little girl preferred studying and 
looking in books to playing with other children, and 
was encouraged in this by her mother. How Mrs. 
Necker did dream and plan for the future of her 
little daughter. Over and over she would say, “There 
shall never be a more remarkable woman.” 

When Germaine was eleven years old one of her 
playmates said of her, “She spoke with a warmth 
and facility which was already eloquent and which 
made a great impression on me.” Even at this time 
the little girl wrote a great deal, and there was no 
subject on which she could not converse ably, includ¬ 
ing politics. Germaine was not at all timid with her 
writings and many of them were read in public and 
always highly applauded; and when they were not 
the child was always in “a temper.” So from her 
earliest years she grew to depend on praise and 
flattery, and in later years these became as neces¬ 
sary to her as food to keep her body alive. 

So hard did Germaine work with her books that 
when she was fourteen years old her health became 


MADAME DE STAEL 


89 


impaired. She was ordered to go to the country and 
give up her writing and studies for a time. At this 
her mother was deeply disappointed, for she had 
been doing all in her power to make of her daughter 
the most brilliant and most clever woman living. 
When her plans were thus spoiled she lost all in¬ 
terest in Germaine’s talents. The careless disinter¬ 
est of her mother hurt the sensitive young girl 
deeply and drove her to her father for understand¬ 
ing. In later life Germaine often referred to her 
aifection for her father, and through all his life he 
took great pride in his daughter’s talents and con¬ 
fidences. 

Undaunted by her ill health Germaine was soon 
writing little plays and tales, which were greeted 
with overwhelming applause by her listeners. When 
she was fifteen years old she had a pamphlet on poli¬ 
tics published. This essay was written in defense 
of an act of her father’s, and was well received. It 
was about this time that the Neckers went to Cop- 
pet, an estate on Lake Geneva, to live. The country 
surrounding her new home was very beautiful but 
at that time Germaine paid little attention to 
scenery. 

When Germaine was twenty-two years old she 
was married to Baron de Stael-Holstein, the Swed¬ 
ish ambassador, who was a great deal older than 
she was. The marriage was one of convenience, for 
Germaine was full of romance and dreamed of court¬ 
ly knights and castles, so that she was far from 
happy with her new husband. 

In 1786 one of Germaine’s books, “Sophia,” a 


90 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


comedy, was published, and two tragedies, “Mont¬ 
morency” and “Lady Jane Grey.” Two years later 
her “Letters on the Writings and Character of J. J. 
Eousseau” appeared, and she became widely known 
for her wit and intelligence. With the fall of 
Eobespierre, Madam de Stael, as she was now called, 
returned to Paris, and with her coming a new epoch 
in society dawned. 

Few women have ever been such social successes 
as was this clever, talented woman, and Paris was 
to her an ideal city. Socially she seemed to starve 
away from its gay life, and because the people fol¬ 
lowed where she led she felt this admiration neces¬ 
sary to her life. It was not long till she became the 
center of one of the most brilliant circles in France, 
and in her home could be found all the most dis¬ 
tinguished foreigners and eminent men of the 
country. 

There was nothing Madam de Stael liked to do 
better than discuss questions that other women 
would seldom think about, and in turn she wanted 
to be appreciated. She seldom asked a question, for 
she was so well versed on all current topics she could 
scarcely be told anything new. Her influence at that 
time was powerful and as all of France was in an 
excitable condition she began to cause consternation 
and was denounced at the convention and attacked 
by the newspapers. 

For this Madam de Stael cared very little, just as 
long as she could reign in the hearts of the gay peo¬ 
ple and win their admiration. But the stem Bona¬ 
parte, home from the conquest of Italy, was not con- 


MADAME DE STAEL 


91 


quered by the brilliant woman and even while 
Madam de Stael admired the great general her ad¬ 
miration turned to fear, 

Napoleon, fearing what consequence the liberal ex¬ 
pression of her views would have on the people of 
France, had Madam de Stael banished from Paris 
and her works were refused circulation. Some time 
later Napoleon visited the Neckers in Switzerland 
and Madam de Stael’s father obtained the great 
man’s consent to his daughter’s visiting Paris again. 
Away from the city the talented woman was never 
happy or contented. At this time her work on litera¬ 
ture was published and it reestablished her popu¬ 
larity, although she was still on bad terms with 
Napoleon. 

Although her early attempts at novel writing were 
not successful Madam de Stael still kept on trying, 
and “Delphine,” “Reflections on the Trial of the 
Queen” and “Reflections on the Place” appeared, all 
deeply censored by the French critics. At about this 
time her husband died, and while Madam de Stael 
was traveling through Germany her father died. 
After her travels she wrote a book about Germany, 
of which Napoleon had 10,000 copies destroyed. She 
also wrote a book entitled “Ten Years of Exile” and 
in 1807 appeared “Corinne,” a novel of Italian life. 

Madam de Stael now ventured to visit her beloved 
Paris, but again she was so influential that Napoleon 
fearing her caused her banishment from Paris and 
forbade her to come within forty leagues of it. Be¬ 
ing of an impetuous nature Madam de Stael suf¬ 
fered greatly from this attack and longed bitterly 


92 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


for Paris. In 1810 she married M. de Rocca, a 
French officer, but continued writing under the name 
of Madam de Stael. Once again the woman was 
severely censured for her marriage, as she had been 
when she married de Stael. 

Fearing imprisonment Madam de Stael resolved 
to escape Napoleon’s dreaded power so she departed 
for England, passing through Germany. In that 
country she was greatly honored by the emperor, 
and in the eight months she spent at Stockholm she 
made many admiring friends. She received a very 
cordial reception in England and was a great social 
lioness, being sought after by all the more intelligent 
people for her genius. 

With the overthrow of Napoleon Madam de Stael 
was free to again visit her beloved Paris, but she 
first returned to Coppet, where she renewed her ac¬ 
quaintance with Lord Byron. During these last 
years she wrote her greatest book, “Consideration 
of the French Revolution,” which was not published 
till after her death. She died in Paris sometime in 
July, 1817. 


( Tfjjouuj^jcdkjui 6>x£obj) 


MARY BAKER EDDY 

O F a deep religious experience which was the 
foundation upon which she built the church 
she founded, Mary Baker Eddy has written: ‘^Saint 
Paul writes: Tor to be carnally minded is death; 
but to be spiritually minded is life and peace/ This 
knowledge came to me in an hour of great need; 
and I give it to you as a death-bed testimony to the 
day-star that dawned on the night of material sense. 
This knowledge is practical, for it wrought my im¬ 
mediate recovery from an injury caused by an acci¬ 
dent, and pronounced fatal by the physicians. On 
the third day thereafter, I called for my Bible, and 
opened it at Matthew IX, 2. As I read, the healing 
Truth dawned upon my sense; and the result was 
that I rose, dressed myself, and ever after was in 
better health than I had before enjoyed. That short 


94 DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 

experience included a glimpse of the great fact that 
I have since tried to make plain to others, namely 
Life in and of the Spirit; this life being the sole 
reality of existence.” 

Mary Baker was born in Bow, New Hampshire, 
in 1821, and from her very babyhood lived in a 
deeply religious atmosphere. She was a merry child, 
although very reserved and even before she started 
to school was a deep thinker. She was educated in 
the public schools in New Hampshire and attended 
the academy at Sanbornton for a while. In between 
times there were private teachers for the little girl, 
and many of them had a deep religious influence 
upon her impressionable character. 

Though of such a deep religious nature, Mary was 
much like other children and liked to play and romp 
about as much as any of her playmates. At any early 
age she was admitted to membership in the Con¬ 
gregational Church and from that time was an 
ardent Christian, though she could not subscribe to 
all its doctrines and was often puzzled about them. 
She remained a member of this sect until she found¬ 
ed her own church. 

In 1843 Mary was married to George W. Glover 
and they went to Charleston, South Carolina, to live. 
The southern life was a great contrast to the life 
the young woman had lived in New England. The 
first great grief in Mary’s life came with the death 
of her husband about a year after her marriage, 
and shortly after his funeral his wife liberated all 
of their slaves. This left Mary almost penniless and 
she returned to her parents’ home, where her son 



MARY BAKER EDDY 


95 


George, was born. Her life at this time was very 
hard and she experienced many difficulties before 
the realization of her later achievements. 

Mary had always been a devout student of the 
Bible and while sulfering from a severe accident in 
1866, she turned to it more than ever for comfort. It 
was during these days that she wrote the message 
given above, which as she proclaimed, brought about 
her own healing. After deep study of the Bible, she 
wrote “Science and Health, with Key to the Scrip¬ 
tures,” which is the textbook used by Christian 
Scientists. Her religion was based upon the scrip¬ 
tural text concerning a man that “As he thinketh 
in his heart, so is he.” 

This book was followed by other writings, among 
the most important of her books being, “Miscel¬ 
laneous Writings” and “The Unity of Good.” She 
founded the periodicals devoted to this religion, also 
The Christum Science Monitor, an international 
daily newspaper. 

In 1877 Mrs. Glover married Dr. Asa G. Eddy, 
who had been associated with her in the Christian 
Science work. Two years later she founded the 
Church of Christ, Scientist, which later was changed 
to The First Church of Christ, Scientist. Mrs. Eddy 
was pastor of the church for many years, and after 
her resignation lived quietly for years in Concord, 
New Hampshire. 

In 1881 Mrs. Eddy opened in Boston the Massa¬ 
chusetts Metaphysical College, which was the only 
institution of its kind having a charter from the 
Commonwealth. In 1908 Mrs. Eddy went to Chest- 


96 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


nut Hill, a suburb of Boston, to live, where she was 
surrounded by loyal followers, and she remained 
active and interested in her church work until she 
died on the third of December, 1910, 



GEORGE ELIOT 


O F all the women writers who have helped and 
are still helping to place our English novels 
at the head of the world’s fiction, she holds at present 
unquestionably the highest rank.” So wrote Long 
about George Eliot, the first woman to gain fame as 
a novelist. Together with her contemporaries of the 
Victorian Age, Dickens and Thackery, she has gained 
an assured place among the novelists who have 
helped to place English fiction among the foremost 
in the world’s literature. 

There was great happiness in the Evans’ house¬ 
hold when George Eliot was born on the twenty- 
second of November, 1819. The little baby with the 
large hungry eyes was christened Marian or Mary 
Ann, which gave place to the name of George Eliot 
when she started writing because she thought it 
97 







98 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


would be easier to succeed if she were known as a 
man. 

There were two children already in the family, a 
little girl called Christiana, and a lively, happy boy 
named Isaac, who is the Tom Tulliver in ^The Mill 
on the Floss,and who became the little Marianas 
inseparable companion. At the time of Marian’s 
birth the family lived at South Farm, Colton Parish 
in Warwickshire. But when she was four months old 
they removed to Griff, a small country town in the 
heart of England, just twenty miles from Stratford 
and the softly flowing Avon, the birthplace of Shake¬ 
speare. 

Marian’s father was a plain, honest farmer, who 
began life like Adam Bede in one of George Eliot’s 
later books, and her mother was a vigorous and 
punctual housekeeper who liked to see everyone 
around her busy. Her father was an agent for 
Francis Newdigate and the family lived on the es¬ 
tate for the first twenty-one years of Marian’s life. 
It was from these surroundings that George Eliot 
described and portrayed some of the most interest¬ 
ing descriptions, scenery, characters, and incidents 
she used in her novels. 

Marian was always a plain little country lass, 
affectionate and sensitive, ready to do everything 
that her brother did. From the very first the father 
called his daughter the ^fiittle wench” and taught 
her to do all kinds of cunning tricks, among them 
patting her hands together to make pats of butter. 
To her dying day one hand was larger than the 
other because of actually having to make so many 


GEORGE ELIOT 


99 


pounds of butter. Marian was never a rugged child 
or woman and she loved quiet and solitude, and all 
her life she hungered deeply to be loved and sym¬ 
pathized with, and because her brother gave her 
these in a greater measure than anyone else she 
reverenced and worshiped him. No brother and sis¬ 
ter ever lived who were fonder of each other than 
Isaac and Marian Evans. 

The little girl was also passionately fond of music 
and when she was only four years old she would 
seat herself at the piano and run her fingers over 
the keys. When she was only five years old Marian 
and Christiana were sent to boarding school where 
they remained for three or four years, and when she 
was eight years old Marian was sent to school at 
Nuneaton, where Miss Lewis, one of the teachers, 
became her life long friend. Mrs. Wallingford was 
another excellent teacher to whom George Eliot owed 
much of her love of poetry. 

The young, ambitious girl with the soft, pale 
brown hair, powerful rugged features, large mouth, 
gray-blue eyes constantly varying in color and feel¬ 
ing, the low voice, and charming nature made a great 
impression with the pupils at Coventry, where 
Marian next went to school. Here she surpassed any 
of her schoolmates in her studies and studied French, 
German, and Italian. She even acquired some knowl¬ 
edge of Hebrew and also became quite a good musi¬ 
cian, playing the organ in a neighboring church, and 
later becoming quite a skilled pianist. In after years 
when Marian made the acquaintance of Emerson 
and he asked her ^'What one book do you like best?'^ 


100 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


she replied much to his astonishment “Rousseau’s 
Confessions,” for even in the days of her girlhood 
Marian was laying the foundation on which her 
gifted talent was to be based. 

In 1836 Mrs. Evans died and Marian was com¬ 
pelled to stop school, and when the following spring 
Christiana was married it fell upon Marian to take 
up the household duties. Even though much of her 
time had to be put into doing routine tasks for which 
she had no great love or skill Marian’s love for books 
increased and she found time to do considerable 
reading. 

When Marian was twenty-one years old she and 
her father went to the manufacturing town of 
Coventry to live, where the young woman soon 
found a new circle of friends who proved to be radi¬ 
cal free-thinkers in religion, and under their influ¬ 
ence she soon put aside the ideas she had formed. 

This was the beginning of a fierce spiritual strug¬ 
gle in Marian’s heart, in which she was convinced 
that duty was the supreme law of life, which she ex¬ 
presses in some way or another in all her novels. 
During the years which followed she began her first 
literary work, a translation of Strauss’ “Life of 
Jesus,” and for this work, which covered a period of 
three years, she received twenty pounds. 

Just as Marian was getting reconciled to the loss 
of her mother and the marriage of her sister her 
father died on the thirty-first of May, 1849, and 
she went abroad with the Brays, old friends, travel¬ 
ing through the Continent and remaining some time 
in Geneva to study. On her return to England she 


GEORGE ELIOT 


101 


boarded with Doctor Chapman, the editor of The 
Westminster Review, and assisted him several 
years in the editorship of this magazine, although 
all of her articles were contributed anonymously. 
This really marked the first beginning of her tal¬ 
ented writing career. 

It was during this time that George Eliot met 
many of the most famous living people, including 
Carlyle, George Henry Lewes, Herbert Spenser and 
others. Through the encouragement of Lewes, whom 
George Eliot had married, she was induced to send 
her first story, “The Sad Fortunes of the Reverend 
Amos Barton,” to Blackwood’s Magazine in 1857, 
and the editor perceiving its merit requested more. 
This story and several others were published the 
following year under the title of “Scenes of Clerical 
Life.” 

Encouraged by the success of these short stories 
George Eliot began her first novel, “Adam Bede,” 
which was hailed by Blackwood with delight, and 
was published in book form in January, 1859, while 
the author was in Germany. Its wonderful power 
was at once recognized and it was greeted with en¬ 
thusiasm. In 1860 appeared “The Mill on the 
Floss,” most of the scenes of which were taken from 
the author's and her brother’s own lives, and in 
which George Eliot reaches the heights of beautiful 
and tender expression. At first the volume wasi 
called “Sister Maggie,” but it was decided that this 
was not a very distinctive title and so was discarded. 

“Silas Marner” appeared in 1861, and by many it 
is considered her most perfectly constructed book, as 


102 DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 

well as her best one. “Romola,” her only historical 
novel with an Italian background, appeared in 1862- 
63, and three years later came “Felix Holt,” followed 
by “Middlemarch” in 1871-72 and “Daniel Deronda” 
her last novel in 1876. A little collection of essays 
entitled “The Impression of Theophrastus Such” 
was published a short time before her death. 

George Henry Lewes died in 1878, which was a 
terrible shock to his wife, and was the end of her 
remarkable creative vitality. However, two years 
later George Eliot married John Walter Cross, who 
had been a lifelong friend of Lewes, and who later 
became her biographer. They took a wedding tour 
in Italy in the hope that it would restore her waning 
health, and for a time she seemed greatly improved. 
It was characteristic of this woman that she should 
say, “I am ready to sit down and weep at the im¬ 
possibility of my understanding or barely knowing 
a fraction of the sum of objects that present them¬ 
selves for our contemplation in books and in life.” 

The winter following the Cross’ return to Eng¬ 
land was unusually severe and but six months after 
George Eliot’s second marriage, and only two weeks 
after she had removed to their new home at Cheyne 
Walk, Chelsea, she died and was buried in Highgate 
Cemetery. 



ESTHER 

A nd the king loved Esther above all the women, 
. and she obtained grace and favor in his sight 
more than all the virgins, so that he set his royal 
crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of 
Vashti.” 

In these words is Esther, the beautiful Jewish 
queen, introduced to the world in the pages of the 
Bible. Esther, the last of the historical books of the 
Old Testament, was written about 425 B. C. That 
Esther once lived is proved by the feast of Purim, 
still observed by the Jews, which commemorates the 
events narrated in this book of the Bible, and honors 
the saving of the nation from destruction by Esther. 

It was Esther’s remarkable beauty which caused 
Ahasuerus, king of the Medes and Persians, to 
choose her as his queen from all the fair women of 


103 


104 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


his empire. Ahasuerus, who is known in history as 
Xerxes, had a wife named Vashti, whose beauty 
is famous in history. One day when he ordered 
Vashti to come before him and show herself to the 
merrymakers, she refused to obey. This so angered 
the king that he sent her away and sent out an 
order that all the pretty maidens in his kingdom be 
brought to him. 

Among the maidens brought to Shushan was 
Esther, whose ancestors had stayed in Babylon after 
the captivity of the Jews. The Bible says: 

"'And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle's 
daughter: for she had neither father or mother, and the 
maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her 
father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter." 

In those ancient days the man was the ruler of the 
family. Women had nothing to say and were not 
supposed to speak unless spoken to. The queen was 
not to enter the king^s presence unless summoned, 
being only a kind of upper servant. Yet because 
it was the custom of the times, all of the other girls 
gathered before Ahasuerus wished to be chosen in¬ 
stead of Esther. But Esther was chosen. Her foster 
father advised her not to tell the king that she was 
a Jewess and the daughter of Abihailj and having 
always been obedient Esther did not reveal her na¬ 
tionality. 

Because of her charm and good nature Esther 
gained a powerful influence over the haughty king; 
and because of this was able to save her people from' 
the awful massacre planned by Haman, the king^s 
chief minister. 


ESTHER 


105 


Haman was a jealous, unprincipled man who be¬ 
came very angry at the Jews because Mordecai re¬ 
fused to salute him the way he thought he should. 
So Haman asked the king to help him plan a mas¬ 
sacre against the Jews, and messengers were sent 
throughout all the kingdom that the people should 
prepare themselves to kill the Jews. 

Mordecai heard of Haman’s plots and had mes¬ 
sages sent to Queen Esther. For the first time in 
her young and guileless life Esther realized the 
meanness that can live in peoples’ hearts. She rea¬ 
lized that the whole power of her husband was being 
used by Haman. Never before had she been cour¬ 
ageous enough to appear before the king without be¬ 
ing summoned, for by law Esther knew she could be 
put to death for such a breach of etiquette against 
the court manners of the Medes and Persians. 

She knew, however, that the life of her people was 
now at stake, and without hesitating she attired 
herself in her most beautiful and gorgeous robes and 
begged for a meeting with the king. And of the 
meeting the Bible says: 

“And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen 
standing in the court, that she obtained favor in his sight: 
and the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that was 
in his hand. So that Esther drew near and touched the top 
of the sceptre. 

Then said the king unto her, What wilt thou, queen 
Esther? What is thy request? It shall be even given thee 
to the half of the kingdom.” 

By the king’s side stood Haman, smiling arrogant¬ 
ly and unmindful of the queen’s loveliness and the 


106 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


wistful pleas in her dark eyes. With flashing eyes 
and scornful lips Esther looked at him when the 
king had given her this permission to express her 
wish. With a bitter denunciation she asked the king 
to intercede against the murder of the Jews, to arm 
themselves against Haman’s lust, and to drive this 
unscrupulous man from power. 

Whether Ahasuerus was moved by Esther’s pleas, 
or whether his sense of justice told him that the 
course he was about to follow was not right is not 
known. But Haman was hanged on the gallows 
which he himself had had prepared for the hanging 
of Mordecai. The king at once armed the Jews and 
repealed the orders sent out by Haman. Notwith¬ 
standing his haste in issuing these orders Haman’s 
men killed several hundred Jews. Thus were most 
of the Jews in Persia saved from death by the cour¬ 
age and beauty of Esther, the simple, generous- 
hearted Jewish girl. 




FANNY FERN 

N OW and then a brilliant writer is born who 
writes lively, pleasing, but short-lived stories 
that are like some vapory mists which are beautiful 
while they last, but soon fade away. Such an author 
and creator was Fanny Fern, whose maiden name 
was Sara Willis. She wrote a good many books but 
they are listed in few libraries, and have been out 
of print for many years. No quotations or excerpts 
are ever made from her witty, sparkling books. 

Sara Willis was born July, 9, 1811, in Portland, 
Maine. She came of a distinguished literary family. 
Her parents later removed to Boston, that city of 
noted literary folk. Her father, Nathaniel Willis, 
became editor of the Recorder, the oldest religious 
paper in the New England States. Afterward ^‘Dea¬ 
con Willis’’ as he was usually called, founded the 
107 


108 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


famous Youth’s Companion, and was editor of it for 
many years. Sara’s brother, Nathaniel, was a few 
years older than she, and probably his literary work 
is better known than that of his sister. “The Death 
of Absalom” being his best poem. 

Sara was a vivacious little girl. She was the 
despair of the school teachers in Boston, yet they 
could not help loving the bright child with her pretty 
blue eyes, fluffy yellow hair, charming manners, and 
fascinating expressions. So full of action was the 
child that she was nearly always bubbling over with 
merriment, or shedding pathetic tears. After finish¬ 
ing her education in the schools in Boston, she went 
to the Young Ladies’ Seminary at Hartford, Con¬ 
necticut, which was conducted by Catherine Beecher, 
a sister of the famous Harriet Beecher Stowe. Here 
she was a merry, high-spirited girl, fond of dress 
and social life. She would much rather read and 
dream over poetry and romances than study. What 
a capacity she had for enjoying herself in her care¬ 
free girlhood! Some of her best work in later years 
was tales of her girlhood. 

In 1857 she returned to Boston, soon marrying 
Charles Eldrige. Her marriage must have often 
proved irksome and prosaic. Her husband died nine 
years later, leaving her two small daughters. She 
was very fond of children, and was always deeply 
interested in Sunday school and mission work for 
their benefit. Her heart always softened to every 
neglected and lonely child she saw. 

A short time after her husband’s death she mar¬ 
ried Mr. Tarrington, who was nearly a stranger. 


FANNY FERN 


109 


Because of her spirited temperament the marriage 
proved very unhappy, and she soon divorced him. 
Once more alone and dependent on her own resources 
to support herself and two small girls, the talented 
woman began writing under the pen name of Fanny 
Fem, by which she is better known than by any of 
her other four rightful names. 

In 1854 she had become a widely popular writer 
among a certain class of readers through her asso¬ 
ciation with the New York Ledger, on which she 
worked until her death. To this newspaper she con¬ 
tributed a weekly article a column in length, and for 
some of these sketches received a hundred dollars. 
She was a piquant, versatile writer, all of her work 
being strictly original and sparkling, but containing 
nothing that made it lasting. 

Fanny Fern was a patriotic woman, and a great 
lover of her country. “Folly As It Flies,” one of her 
books, is made up of short sketches about the Civil 
War. 

In 1856 she married a third time, this time mar¬ 
rying James Patron, a great historian of the time, 
and an active and independent thinker. 

Some of Fanny Fern’s publications aroused much 
discussion and criticism. She wrote but two long 
stories, “Euth Hall” and “Rose Clark.” “Play Days” 
is a juvenile storybook. Several of her books are 
collections of sketches, namely, “Fern Leaves from 
Fanny’s Portfolio,” “Little Ferns” and “Fresh 
Ferns.” 

“Two In Heaven” was her finest and sweetest 
article, being written about her two children, who 


110 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


died in infancy. Once someone remarked to her, 
interrogatively, ^^You have two children?’’ 

have four,” replied the beautiful woman, with 
a soft smile, ^Two on earth; two in heaven.” 

This remarkable woman’s life seems to have been 
a contradiction. She did many things that made her 
seem heartless, unprincipled and without ideals, yet 
within her heart there glowed love for everything. 
She died October 10, 1872. Her grave is neglected 
and unknown, and her name has been forgotten in 
the literary world, though at one time she was one 
of the most famous and brilliant of American 
women. 



BARBARA FRIETCHIE 


“Over Barbara Frietchie’s grave 
Flag of freedom and union wave! 

And ever the stars above look down 
On thy stars below in Frederick town.” 

N early everyone has heard or read Whit¬ 
tier’s spirited poem about patriotic Barbara 
Frietchie, but there are few who know anything 
about her life, and to many she seems only an imagi¬ 
nary heroine of war. There have been numberless 
legends and much controversy about this woman 
and some of the most pessimistic people went as far 
as to declare that Barbara Frietchie never existed. 
This wrangling started numerous debates and argu¬ 
ments and a diligent research was made to prove 
whether such a person ever lived or not. At last a 
letter was found that John Greenleaf Whittier had 


111 


112 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


written in which he mentioned he had seen and 
talked with relatives of Barbara Frietchie. 

Barbara Hauer, as Mrs. Frietchie was called be¬ 
fore her marriage, was born on the third of Decem¬ 
ber, 1766, near Lancaster, Pa. She was born just 
about the time that some of the most important 
events in the history of our country began taking 
place, and her birthplace was rich in history and 
tradition. Barbara had four older sisters and a 
brother, who early began to tell the little sister of 
the stirring events about them. 

Barbara was only a few years old when the Hauer 
family went to Frederick, Md., another town close¬ 
ly linked with some of the most important events 
of colonial times. Here the little girl and her sisters 
and her brother went to school, securing one of the 
best educations possible at that time, and later for a 
time Barbara went to school in Baltimore. 

Barbara was a very bright, industrious girl and 
having a keen mind she observed everything that 
happened, and so she grew up with her country. 
Often she would pause to listen more attentively to 
the many discussions in which people were forever 
engaged in those days, and although she was very 
young, Barbara realized that these were strenuous 
days which called for strong men and women. The 
young girl often overheard remarks and discussions 
about the Boston Tea Party, the English taxes and 
other subjects of great interest during this time. 

Even in the pretty little town of Frederick nestled 
so snugly among its historic hills, came the Revolu¬ 
tionary War with its bloodshed and its heartaches. 


BARBARA FRIETCHIE 


113 


On the outskirts of the market square in the center 
of the town stood the old gray stone barracks in 
which prisoners were kept through the Revolution¬ 
ary War, and which had a strange attraction for 
Barbara. From the prisoners Barbara learned many 
a pathetic and awful story of suffering and bravery 
and courage, and amidst all this the loyalty and 
courage in her own soul grew. 

So the years passed and the eager young girl grew 
into an attractive woman, though she was always 
very tiny in stature. She was known far and wide 
for her loyal and generous nature. Everyone who 
met Barbara loved her just as she loved everyone. 
There was so much the brave little active woman 
could find to do in those days, for in this new country 
there was much to be done. There still stands the 
old stone tavern in Frederick where many of the 
greatest men of that time met to discuss questions 
of the day, and Barbara always found out in some 
way about these meetings. Franklin, Lafayette, and 
Jackson were among the men who came to the tav¬ 
ern, and when in 1791 Washington came it was Bar¬ 
bara who brought her beautiful china over to set the 
table. 

When Barbara was about forty years old, but 
still light-hearted and active, though her hair was 
streaked with gray, she married John Caspar 
Frietchie, a buckskin glove maker. They went to 
live in a little high-gabled story and a half build¬ 
ing on West Patrick Street, made of red bricks and 
trimmed in white, with the most slanting roof imag¬ 
inable. It was a cozy house in which the two were 


114 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


very happy until Mr. Frietchie’s death in 1849. 
For a long time after Barbara’s death the house re¬ 
mained standing and was visited by many tourists, 
but on account of the changing of the current of 
Carroll Creek near which it was built, it was torn 
down some years ago. A tablet on the bridge now 
marks the place where the house previously stood. 

The Frietchies had no children, and after her 
husband’s death Barbara lived alone in the queer 
little house, busy and happy and loyal as ever, 
though there was a rumor that she was much crosser 
than she had ever been before. Admiral Winfield 
Scott Schley, who won great fame as the hero of 
Santiago in our war with Spain, spent his boyhood 
in Frederick, and he said he often visited Mrs. 
Frietchie, as did the other children of the village. 
Barbara seemed very fond of these youngsters and 
always seemed glad of their visits, feeding them 
gingercake and other dainties that appealed to their 
appetites. 

More years sped past and Barbara grew older 
and older and ever more loyal to her country and 
more courageous. When she was ninety-four years 
old the Civil War began and with its first outbreak 
Barbara hung a flag out of one of her front win¬ 
dows. “I can always keep that flying,” she said, 
“though I cannot do much of anything else,” and 
her eyes would grow dim with tears. 

On every side there was dissension and bitterness 
and struggle and doubt, but whenever it was voiced 
to Barbara she would always smile bravely and 
say, “Never, mind, we must conquer sometime.” 


BARBARA FRIETCHIE 


115 


Her words cheered the other villagers and Frederick 
being a Union town, the Stars and Stripes hung from 
nearly every window. 

Then one day in September, 1862, the news came 
to Frederick that a great Confederate army under 
General Stonewall Jackson was marching toward 
the town. People grew afraid and in their fear one 
after another of the less ardent patriots took down 
the flags that had been proudly floating from their 
houses. The order was borne to the town that every 
Union flag was to be taken down and all the rest 
of the people sorrowfully took down their flags, ex¬ 
cept Barbara Frietchie. 

With the intense loyal spirit that had made Bar¬ 
bara such a courageous patriot all of her life she 
caught up the staff of her flag and carried it to 
her front attic window and unfurled the flag out to 
the breeze just as the gray-clad soldiers came into 
West Patrick Street. Those neighbors who were not 
too frightened to notice, gasped in astonishment and 
tried to persuade her to lower the flag. By some it 
is said that the dear old lady did take the flag down 
and laid it in her Bible. However, the spirited poem 
of Whittier’s describes the incident otherwise, and 
research has stated that this is probably the correct 
version. 

As General Stonewall Jackson came up to the 
Frietchie house and saw the banner floating from 
the window, held there by Barbara “bowed with 
her fourscore years and ten,” as Whittier has writ¬ 
ten, the man grew angry and ordered her to take it 
down. Of course, Barbara refused to take down the 


116 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


flag she loved and honored so much and Jackson 
gave the word of command to his soldiers to Are. A 
deafening blast rose from the up-pointed guns tear¬ 
ing the flag into tatters, but grasping it harder 
‘^She leaned far out on the window sill 
And shook it forth with a loyal will/’ 

in the words of Whittier, and then Barbara cried; 
‘Shoot if you must this old gray head, 

But spare your country’s flag,’ she said.” 

Could any general disregard such an appeal? So 
touched was General Jackson by her plea that he 
ordered his troops to move on, as Whittier wrote: 

“A shade of sadness, a blush of shame 
Over the face of the leader came. 

“ ‘Who touches a hair of yon gray head 
Dies like a dog! March on!’ he said.” 

So the troops marched on leaving Barbara alone 
again to raise her battered flag. 

For three more months Barbara lived in her little 
home and then she died. She was buried in the Re¬ 
form Church gardens in Frederick, but her body was 
later removed to beautiful Mount Olivet Cemetery, 
where a large granite monument marks her grave. 
On the front of the stone is a tablet with Whittier’s 
beautiful words about her, engraved on it. At one 
corner of the lot is a flagstaflf from which waves a 
flag. Thus is the memory of this brave woman per¬ 
petuated. 

the incident about the flag the story got 
into the newspapers and it is said that Mrs. South- 


BARBARA FRIETCHIE 


117 


worth, the novelist, seeing it and being greatly im¬ 
pressed with the emotional part of it clipped it out 
and sent it to Whittier, the poet, saying she thought 
he might make use of it. Soon thereafter he wrote 
the famous ballad, which is probably the best known 
and most loved of all of Whittier^s poems. 




LUCY PAGE GASTON 

A ND I have been happy—so happy,” were among 
-L\. the last words ever spoken by Lucy Page Gas¬ 
ton, the noble woman who fought so hard against 
the use of cigarettes. Her life was a happy as well 
as a beautiful one, for it was like a peaceful bene¬ 
diction, and not for a single moment did she live for 
herself. All the years of her long, busy, unselfish 
life were given to others and to make the world bet¬ 
ter. In dying. Miss Gaston may have taken with her 
buried hopes and expressions of future faith and as¬ 
pirations, but she also kept her optimistic spirit till 
the last. 

Lucy was born in 1860, in one of the most stormy 
and unsettled times in our country, and her parents 
living in Delaware, Ohio, were in a rather danger¬ 
ous region. But Lucy was endowed with a beautiful, 
118 


LUCY PAGE GASTON 


119 


genial nature which made her later life such a happy 
and successful one, and even her baby face was usu¬ 
ally wreathed in smiles. The little girl was never 
peevish, and for this reason her brother, Edward, 
became very fond of her. Lucy’s gentle, winning 
ways made her a favorite among all the people who 
knew her. 

As Lucy grew older she took a keen interest in 
everything that caught her fancy, and when she 
started to school knew much about many things 
the other children her age knew nothing about. By 
and by the Gastons removed from Ohio to Lincoln, 
Illinois, where Lucy received most of her education. 

Lucy liked her new home and surroundings and 
found many things to interest her. As the years 
passed, her desire for more knowledge urged her to 
go to the State Normal School. Here the young girl 
met many interesting people and became deeply con¬ 
cerned over some of the foremost movements of the 
day. 

Lucy had always been a quiet, studious person, 
preferring reading and thinking to social affairs. 
During the years in school Lucy saw the many bad 
effects students suffered from smoking cigarettes. 
It was probably during these years that almost un¬ 
consciously the foundation for her future life was 
laid. One day Lucy observed to a classmate that 
the students who were always seen smoking seemed 
to lack the ability and alertness of those who did 
not smoke. 

The classmate, a less intelligent and charming 
girl than Lucy, laughed and replied, ^ Why don’t you 


120 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


try and make them quit and save all this brightness 
for the world?” 

In the last hours of her life Lucy said, “There are 
statistics, figures and facts that show the relation 
of crime and degeneracy to the cigarette. I have 
been years in gathering them but they aren’t co¬ 
ordinated or put together in the way necessary to 
make them effective.” 

All the early years of Lucy’s womanhood were 
used in laying up strength and money so that some 
day she could give her time and life to the work she 
saw to be done. In all these years Lucy kept think¬ 
ing of the real harm the cigarette was doing in the 
world. When she was thirty-nine years old Lucy 
began to devote her life to what most people tried 
to make her believe was a forlorn cause. But to the 
very last Lucy believed in her work and when she 
knew that death was coming, said, “Jesus did not 
wish me to finish first the little bit of work I have 
to do,” and then with a bright smile she continued, 
saying that she wanted the world to know that the 
work would go on even after her death. 

Poorly clothed and fairly starving Lucy went on 
with the work she thought was the most important 
in the world. Years later it was found that in those 
days she lived on milk and graham crackers. 
Not plenty of these, either, just five cents worth of 
milk and a handful of graham crackers. She always 
carried the crackers carefully in her handbag and 
gave them out meagerly to herself. For it cost money 
to carry on her work and she had to help her brother 
provide and keep a home for her mother. 


LUCY PAGE GASTON 


121 


After considerable effort and strife Lucy suc¬ 
ceeded in starting an anti-cigarette league in Chi¬ 
cago, of which she was immediately chosen presi¬ 
dent. Her work brought her to the attention of 
Frances Willard, and Lucy soon became an active 
worker in the W. C. T. U. 

When a little paper called the Citizen was started 
Lucy was given the position of editor. There fol¬ 
lowed a long fight in the Cook County courts on the 
validity of the Prohibition Law that made Lucy Gas- 
ton^s name famous throughout the United States. 
From that time on she directed, frequently with 
personal danger, numerous raids against illegal 
saloons, gambling resorts and cigarette dealers in 
Chicago and elsewhere. So successful was she in 
many places that her work spread in this country 
and abroad. Another new paper called the Boy was 
started of which Miss Gaston was also made editor. 
She was the foremost figure of the time in reform 
work. 

The terrible drain on Miss Gaston’s strength made 
her health fail and finally she was forced to go to 
a sanitarium for an operation. She sank rapidly 
after that and in late August of 1924, she died. 



HELEN OF TROY 

At length I saw a lady within call, 

Stiller than chiselFd marble, standing there; 

A daughter of the gods, divinely tall. 

And most divinely fair. 

Her loveliness with shame and with surprise 
Froze my swift speech; she, turning on my face 

The starlfke sorrows of immortal eyes. 

Spoke slowly in her place. 

Tennyson about Helen of Troy in his 
A Dream of Fair AVomen.’^ It is over twenty 
centuries ago that Helen lived and many artists 
and poets have honored her beauty since. She is 
supposed to have been the fairest woman of the an¬ 
cient world, which seems to have been celebrated for 
its beautiful women, and ever since her name has 

122 


HELEN OF TROY 


123 


stood for all that is most beautiful. Among the most 
famous paintings of Helen is that of the French 
artist, Jacques Louis Davis, called “Helen and 
Paris.” 

The story of Helen is derived'from an old Greek 
legend, and some there are who doubt if such a fair 
maiden ever lived. Nevertheless, we have heard 
about her all of our lives and probably will continue 
to do so. It is said that one day years and years ago 
when the world was still very, very young, three 
goddesses met in a green meadow to decide who was 
the most beautiful. These goddesses were Aphrodite, 
the goddess of love, Juno, the goddess of marriage 
and birth and the guardian of the national finances 
and the queen of heaven; and Minerva, goddess of 
all the arts and protector of warriors in battle. 

Paris, the son of King Priam of Troy, had been 
asked to be judge of the contest. After much de¬ 
liberation, for all three of the women were excep¬ 
tionally beautiful, according to legend, Paris 
awarded the prize, a golden apple, to Aphrodite. 
Aphrodite promised to give him the fairest woman 
in the world for a wife if he chose her as the winner. 

It is claimed that Aphrodite’s morals and ideals 
were not of the highest and so she did not hesitate 
to tell Paris about Helen of Troy, the wife of King 
Menelaus. It was said that when but a child Helen, 
the daughter of Leda and Jupiter, was so beautiful 
that Theseus bore her away to be his bride, but she 
was brought back to her Spartan home. She grew 
more and more beautiful and in the form of a swan 
was courted by all the gods. When she was still a 


124 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


young girl she had thirty ardent suitors and was 
told to proclaim which of them she desired for a 
husband. 

Shyly Helen chose Menelaus, King of Sparta, from 
the group. Believing that the other young warriors 
would make great trouble Ulysses advised Helen to 
have her other suitors pledge by oath to respect her 
choice of a husband and to maintain it even at the 
cost of arms. Seeing there was nothing else to be 
gained, the twenty-nine disappointed Spartan chiefs 
gave their pledge, and well they might wonder as 
the poet Marlowe does in these words about Helen: 

‘'Is this the face that launched a thousand ships 
And burned the topless towers of Illium?'’ 

Soon Paris came as a guest to Menelaus’ home. 
The king and queen did not know on what errand 
he was bound and treated him kindly. It was not 
long till the whole court knew about the young 
prince’s infatuation for the beautiful queen, and 
Paris pleaded with Helen to go back with him. Leg¬ 
ends differ about this part of the story, for some 
claim Helen went with Paris willingly, and others 
say she was carried by force to Troy. As is stated 
in these lines: 

“Then from her husband’s stranger-sheltered home, 

He tempted Helen o’er the ocean’s foam.’’ 

Forsaken, Menelaus was not the man to submit 
patiently to this wrong and remembering the pledge 
of the warriors, called upon them. They rallied at 
once and came forward to avenge the king, and for 
ten years they battered at the walls of Troy. The 


HELEN OF TROY 


126 


story of the wooden horse, a god, in which the clever 
Ulysses hid Greek warriors and gained the entrance 
of the city, causing its fall, is well known. 

At last the war, the most terrible conflict of an¬ 
cient times, was ended, and it is said that Helen was 
still as young and beautiful as ever. Some historians 
claim that after the death of Paris, Helen married 
Deiphobus, his brother, and after that returned to 
Menelaus and Sparta, while others claim she went at 
once back to her husband. 

However, with the fall of Troy, Helen returned 
to Menelaus and together they returned to Greece 
and spent many happy years together. It is said 
that because of her great beauty the king never 
blamed her for the loss of his fortune and other 
troubles. 

Upon the death of King Menelaus, Helen was 
banished from the country and at Rhodes her life 
was destroyed by the queen of the island. 






^jJLlxuxi S S^JUinrjMjyjf J 


FELICIA D. HEMANS 

I F not her name, at least some of the stirring 
poems of Felicia D. Hemans are familiar to 
nearly every boy and girl who has gone to school. 
It is without difficulty that many an older person 
can recall with what emphasis the teachers insisted 
that they should read “The Landing of the Pil¬ 
grims.” Even a very young reader can partly feel 
the strength and beautiful force contained in the 
lines of this well known poem. Put it is largely on 
“Casablanca” that Mrs. Hemans’ fame rests. Few 
poems are more generally loved by the young as 
well as the old. 

Perhaps it was really Mrs. Hemans’ shorter poems 
which made her beloved in England as well as Amer¬ 
ica. Many of her shorter poems have become stand¬ 
ard English lyrics, and many appear in school read- 


126 


FELICIA D. REMANS 


127 


ers, among these being “The Treasures of the Deep,” 
“The Better Land” and “The House of England.” 

Felicia Dorothea Brown was born on the twenty- 
fifth of September, 1793, in Liverpool, England, and 
from a quiet, shy baby grew into a dreamy, reserved, 
thoughtful child with a great love of nature and for 
reading. Long before Felicia started to school she 
was fond of browsing through books and trying to 
make out what the funny letters were all about. 

From her earliest days Felicia laid the founda¬ 
tion of the beautiful life which in later years 
breathed and throbbed in her verse. As soon as little 
Felicia could write she started putting down the 
poems she had been making for a long time. These 
poems were not only an amusement to herself but 
also to her sister and playmates. They thought no 
one was so clever and bright as Felicia. 

Talented, beautiful, genial, Felicia was a charm¬ 
ing child and grew into a graceful, cultured woman 
with a strong infiuence. Few people ever have the 
honor of seeing any of their literary work in print 
by the time they are fourteen years old, but at that 
tender age Felicia had had published a book of verse 
called “Juvenile Poems.” They found a ready wel¬ 
come and from that time on the serious little girl 
was determined she would be a writer some day. 
“I just must write,” she declared, when some of her 
friends wanted her to go on a picnic with them. 
There was no enjoyment that seemed to be strong 
enough to keep her from her poem-making. In 1812 
another volume of her verse was published. 

When Felicia was but nineteen years old she was 


128 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


married to Captain Hemans, an Irish soldier who 
had served in Spain. The few years of Felicia’s girl¬ 
hood had been busy but charming ones, but now she 
found new cares which often crowded her writing 
almost out of her life. 

Captain Hemans told his wife many a glowing 
story of adventure and excitement about his travels. 
His life was like a fairy book to the young girl who 
had never been far from home, and she listened to 
his narratives as one entranced. Her own life had 
been so secluded and she had seen so little of the 
world that now she hungrily stored away the bright 
bits unfolded to her, many of which she later used 
in her poems. But with the coming of five sons life 
made great demands of her and her husband. Leav¬ 
ing Liverpool they went for a time to live in Lan¬ 
cashire, then to North Wales and finally to Dublin. 

Even though her life was such a busy one in these 
years Felicia found some time to write and in 1825 
appeared “Forest Sanctuary,” which was published 
in the second edition four years later. In this for 
the first time appeared “Casabianca.” Although 
many of Mrs. Hemans’s earlier poems were imitative 
she began now to assert her independence and to 
write poems of great beauty and pathos, which were 
meant to live. “Records of Women” appeared in 
1828, and “Songs of the Affection” in 1830. Four 
years later appeared “Hymns of Childhood,” “Na¬ 
tional Lyrics and Songs of Music” and “Scenes and 
Hymns of Life.” During these years she also con¬ 
tributed to magazines and her fame grew. She also 
wrote three plays, and for one of them, “The 


FELICIA D. REMANS 


129 


Vespers of Palermo,” Sir Walter Scott wrote the 
epilogue, which was the beginning of a long friend¬ 
ship between the two talented authors. 

A volume, “Poetical Remains” appeared after 
Mrs. Hemans’ death, being a complete edition of her 
works with a memoir by her sister. This book was 
published in 1839. 

After a short, beautiful, busy, useful life Mrs. 
Hemans died in her home in Dublin in 1835, leaving 
behind the poems which have given much pleasure 
and comfort to many people. 




HERO 


"'His eye but saw that light of love, 

The only star it hail'd above; 

His ear but rang with Hero's song, 

'Ye waves, divide not lovers long.'" 

S o wrote Lord Byron upon his return from at¬ 
tempting to swim the Hellespont as did Lean- 
der in an old mythological legend that has been told 
for many years. Many other poets have also cele¬ 
brated the beauty of Hero and the bravery and love 
of Leander. Artists have painted numerous pictures 
of this faultless beauty, and one of the best liked 
pictures in the world’s galleries is “Hero’s Last 
Watch,” painted by Sir Frederick Leighton, an Eng- 
lishman. 

Nothing is known about the birth and childhood 
of Hero or her parents and other relatives, only we 
fancy she must have been a lovely and happy child, 
130 


HERO 


131 


Although she lived so many hundreds of years ago 
and was such an exceptional woman she probably 
played and scampered about in her childhood even 
as do the children of today. Hero was taught to 
obey and to observe good manners. 

The little Greek girl grew into such a beautiful 
woman that her parents became alarmed, and her 
many charms so allured suitors that she was con¬ 
stantly besieged. The legend goes that her charms 
excited the wrath of Aphrodite, the goddess of love. 
Her parents were in despair, for it was terrible to 
have any of the gods olfended with one. 

At last, hoping to assuage the jealousy of the god¬ 
dess, as well as to keep away suitors. Hero’s parents 
decided to take their daughter to a temple, a high 
tower, on the banks of the Hellespont, the strait now 
known as the Dardanelles. The tower was in a lone¬ 
ly spot and the water dashed against its foot, sound¬ 
ing wild and ghostlike in a storm. But Hero seemed 
to like the wild solitude and cared tenderly for the 
doves which inhabited the tower and the swans 
which lived at its foot. The little maiden made many 
friends with the birds and they seemed to be very 
happy together. At last her parents were content, 
thinking they had shut their daughter away from 
all temptations. 

One day, Leander, a beautiful and lithesome 
youth, living across the river from the temple, at¬ 
tended a festival in the temple and saw Hero. He 
fell in love with the beautiful girl and begged her 
to grant him permission to call on her. Hero remem¬ 
bered her parents’ mandates, and though she tried 


132 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


to keep her eyes from showing what was in her 
heart, they glowed with a beautiful light, even while 
she chided Leander for his ardor, telling him to go 
home. 

However, Leander had seen the glow in Hero’s 
eyes and at last pleaded with her to consent to let 
him come to see her in the lonely tower. To get to 
the temple, unobserved, Leander, the courageous 
youth of Abydos, had to swim the raging Hellespont, 
which had never been done before. Even the strong¬ 
est and bravest Greek youths had feared to try 
swimming in that turbulent swift current. 

But Leander was undaunted and every night he 
would walk slowly up and down the sand on the bank 
opposite the temple until he saw a flickering torch 
burning on the top of the tower, the signal agreed 
upon which Hero should place there when it was safe 
for her lover to come. Leander was very strong and 
light-hearted and for a time all went well. He crossed 
the river again and again and he and Hero were very 
happy in their stolen meetings, although now and 
then the girl’s conscience troubled her gravely. 

Days passed by until the storms of winter began 
to blow and then Hero had a dreadful fear. She 
dreaded the anger of the goddess Aphrodite, she 
feared that the waves would engulf Leander and 
drown him and she pleaded with him to cease his 
visits until calmer weather came. He laughed her 
fears away and assured her that nothing could hap¬ 
pen to him, and showing her his mighty arms, he 
would comfort her, saying over and over again, “Not 
even the mighty river is as strong as I am,’” and 


HERO 


133 


while he was with her she believed what he said. 

When she was alone Hero felt that tragedy was 
never far away, and the waves chanted to her now 
of sadness, instead of comforting her as they had 
done before she had known Leander. One night 
Hero’s torch was put out by a strong blast of wind, 
and though she quickly lit another while the wild 
wind shrieked about her in the lonely tower, Leander 
out in the river struggling desperately with the 
fierce waves was sucked under. 

All night Hero, terror stricken and in wild panic, 
waited for the day and Leander, and in the morn¬ 
ing she saw his lifeless body come floating toward 
the shore. As it came nearer to the shore her body 
grew tense and rigid and just as it came opposite 
her Hero jumped and so perished by the side of her 
lover. 





JULIA WARD HOWE 

“Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; 
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath 
are stored; 

He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift 
sword; 

His truth is marching on.” 

T he words of few songs are better known than 
those of the “Battle Hymn of the Eepublic,” 
often called the National Hymn of America. It is 
with reverence and love we remember the author, 
and honor her as few women have been honored. 

Julia Ward, which was Mrs. Howe’s maiden name 
was born May 27, 1819, in New York City, but spent 
the greater part of her life in the cultured atmos¬ 
phere of Boston. Her father was a banker, a well 
educated man, with refined manner; her mother was 
a gentle, cultured woman. They believed in giving 
134 



JULIA WARD HOWE 


135 


their children the best education obtainable, and sur¬ 
rounded them with everything that could help to 
give them knowledge. Her parents were related to 
the famous Astor family, and one of Mrs. Howe’s 
sisters was the mother of F. Marion Crawford, one 
of our most famous novelists. 

Julia was a very bright girl, and soon after learn¬ 
ing to read and write, began composing poetry, con¬ 
tinuing through all the years. She possessed an ac¬ 
tive, witty, intellectual nature, and was a good con¬ 
versationalist, even when a child. She had great 
ability for sparkling repartee, and was a general 
favorite. From childhood she was deeply interested 
in religion, and soon became a member of the Uni¬ 
tarian church. 

Julia was given a careful and thorough educa¬ 
tion, which in after years proved of infinite value to 
her. Through the loving influence and guidance of 
her parents she grew into a noble, unselfish woman, 
who took a keen interest in philanthropy, politics 
and reforms of all kinds. 

In 1843 she met Doctor Howe, a great philan¬ 
thropist, who was interested in many activities for 
the betterment of the country. They soon became at¬ 
tracted to each other and were married the same 
year. Doctor Howe took a keen interest in his wife’s 
work, as she did in his. They had three daughters, 
one of them being Mrs. Laura E. Richards, the au¬ 
thor of a number of well-known children’s books. 

Mrs. Howe was a busy woman, being interested 
in literary work, as well as in philanthropy and 
politics and clubs. She had little time to devote to 


136 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


her household, but never neglected a task, for she 
believed that her home came before her outside 
duties. She was elated when she was chosen presi¬ 
dent of the New England’s Woman’s Club, believing 
that clubs exerted a strong influence for the good 
of the country. During her spare moments she still 
continued writing poems, but none contained great 
merit. 

About this time she became very active in the 
cause of woman’s suffrage and prison reform, and 
was also an advocate of universal peace. She pos¬ 
sessed a wonderful voice and often talked on these 
topics at club meetings. 

But it was not until after Mrs. Howe wrote the 
“Battle Hymn of the Republic” that she became fa¬ 
mous. The incident which led her to write the words 
is full of interest. Late in the autumn of 1861, while 
the States were throbbing with slavery and war 
questions, she was visiting Washington with her 
husband and some friends. One day they drove out 
to attend a review of some troops, and on their way 
home sung war songs, among them “John Brown’s 
Body.” 

“You ought to write some new words to that 
tune,” suggested a minister, turning to Mrs. Howe 
with a smile. 

Mrs. Howe replied, “I have often wished to.” 

That night she states she went to bed and slept 
as usual, but when she awoke in the early dawn of 
the morning she felt a wonderful inspiration. In 
her brain the wished-for lines were faintly forming. 
She lay for a few minutes longer in peaceful quiet^ 


JULIA WARD HOWE 


137 


then hastily arising she found a stump of a pen, and 
on the back of an old envelope scrawled the famous 
words of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” 

^ The words were so full of the emotion felt at the 
time, that they became popular at once and in a short 
time were sung in war camps and churches every¬ 
where. The song was widely known at first as the 
“Marseillaise of the Unemotional Yanks.” Two in¬ 
cidents will show how it took with soldiers and the 
people. 

A certain fighting chaplain, who had committed 
it to memory, sang it one memorable night in Libby 
Prison, when the joyful tidings of the victory of Get¬ 
tysburg had penetrated even those gloomy walls. 
“Like a flame the word flashed through the prison. 
Men leaped to their feet, shouted, embraced one an¬ 
other in a frenzy of joy and triumph; and Chaplain 
McCabe, standing in the middle of the room, lifted 
up his great voice and sang aloud: 

“Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the 
Lord—” 

Every voice took up the chorus, and Libby Prison 
rang with the shout of “Glory, glory, hallelujah!” 

Later, when Chaplain McCabe related to a great 
audience in Washington the story of that night and 
ended by singing the “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” 
as only one who has lived it can sing it, the voice of 
Abraham Lincoln was heard above the wild ap¬ 
plause, calling, as the tears rolled down his cheeks, 
“Sing it again!” 

Several volumes of verse and prose were pub¬ 
lished by Mrs. Howe, among the best known being 


138 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


“Passion Flowers,” “From Sunset Ridge,” “Sex and 
Education,” “A Trip to Cuba” and “Reminiscences,” 
which is filled with delightful memories of Mrs. 
Howe’s life. 

Her intellectual powers never dimmed, and her 
dreamy eyes were still bright and filled with life, 
when she passed away at the age of eighty-one, leav¬ 
ing behind her an immortal name. 




ANNE HUTCHINSON 

W ITH the present freedom of religion and 
thought it is hard to understand the story of 
Anne Hutchinson and the narrow, bigoted times in 
which she lived. It is hard to even fancy that there 
was ever a time when the religion of people was the 
foremost consideration of the state, or that the gov¬ 
ernment of any country could deem itself fit to say 
what the belief of its people should be. Today even 
the poorest and most oppressed of people insist that 
they have the right to freedom of religious belief. 
But from history we know faintly what oppression 
the Pilgrims, Huguenots, and other religious sects 
suffered about this time. 

Because Anne Hutchinson was born so long ago, 
and at her birth seemed to be such an inconspicuous 
little child, not even her maiden name is known. 


139 


140 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


She was born some time in 1590 or the next year, 
and grew up in the times when battles for freedom 
of religion were at their height. From her first baby 
days Anne heard scarcely any other conversation 
but that which pertained to religion. Being a bright 
and clever girl she soon comprehended all that was 
said, and it was not long till she took an active part 
in these discussions. Anne was a strange girl and 
she was brought up in strange circumstances, a fact 
which may have done much to influence her later 
life. 

The little Anne was taught to be honest, indus¬ 
trious and loyal. She was made to understand that 
obedience to her king and queen was the first and 
most important object in the life of every one in 
England. But despite the turmoil of the times and 
the rigor of a harsh government the little Anne was 
happy in her modest home in Lincolnshire, England, 
and though she probably often talked and heard 
about America in those days she never dreamed of 
seeing the strange country. 

Anne grew into a sturdy little girl, determined 
and self-reliant, well fitted to do her own thinking, 
yet never haughty and insolent. Her quiet, modest 
manner and loving nature endeared her to all. She 
was just as good a listener as conversationalist, and 
would often listen for hours to a conversation which 
interested her, without saying a word. Anne kept 
her active brain always at work, and even in those 
days she knew that she did not agree with many of 
the opinions she heard expressed. 

During the days of Anne’s girlhood, as well as her 


ANNE HUTCHINSON 


141 


later life, there were very few books, but the ones 
she could get hold of the little girl read over and over 
again, loving them just as much as Lincoln ever 
did. No wonder the mother and father were very 
proud of their intelligent, capable, graceful little 
daughter. 

Even in those days Anne was determined to bear 
an equal share with men in the affairs of the mo¬ 
ment, though she could not quite overcome her nat¬ 
ural shyness enough to be forward in expressing her 
thoughts. She did not fear to express her opinions, 
as so many did at that time, for fines, prison, and 
banishment were meted out liberally to every free 
religious believer. 

The days passed and Anne grew into a charming 
young woman, admired even more greatly at that 
time than as a girl. She had a number of suitors 
and at last was married to William Hutchinson, who 
fortunately had the same strong religious beliefs as 
she herself did. The two were perfectly happy to¬ 
gether and began to plan the things they would do 
together. Then in 1634 they decided that they 
would start for America. With what glowing excite¬ 
ment Anne got ready for the long trip across the 
ocean in the Griffin. 

Who can tell of the strange expectations, half 
frightened yet wholly thrilling, that must have 
throbbed in the young woman’s and man’s hearts as 
they made their way slowly across the ocean and 
left behind them all that was familiar and dear. 
Nothing that Anne had yet done better showed the 
wonderful bravery of her courageous nature. Her 


142 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


happy temperament kept the whole crew in good 
spirits as the Griffin slowly moved along. 

There was no more ardent Christian on the ship 
than Anne and she spent many of the long hours 
in conversation with the Rev. Zechariah Symmes. 
He seemed to understand all of what the young 
woman tried to explain and encouraged her into con¬ 
fiding all of her beliefs in him. How Anne did enjoy 
giving him her confidences on these questions. He 
seemed to understand so well and was so sympathet¬ 
ic, and at that time there were so few people that 
one dared to talk with about religious matters. 

In her enthusiasm poor Anne neglected to see how 
narrow and harsh her seeming friend was, and 
learned only too late that he was the meanest of 
traitors. Hardly had the ship landed at New Bos¬ 
ton, after its long and wearisome journey, than 
Symmes went through the colony denouncing Anne 
as a prophetess and warned the government and 
deputy against what he called ^‘her eccentricities of 
belief.'^^ These rumors resulted in delaying Anne's 
admission to church membership, which as anyone 
can guess gravely troubled her pious and noble soul. 

Finally, however, Anne was admitted to the 
church, despite what Symmes had said. No one was 
more perfect in attendance than she, sitting patient¬ 
ly, eagerly listening through three to five hours at 
each meeting. At that time meetings were held in 
the middle of the week from which all women were 
excluded. This had aroused the feelings of many a 
colonial woman, but none of them had been brave 
enough to defy the edict. This aroused Anne's wrath. 


ANNE HUTCHINSON 


143 


After considerable deliberation Anne revolted and 
established a weekly meeting of her own, which was 
popular from the very first and rapidly grew more 
in favor. At these meetings she did most of the talk¬ 
ing, not only because she was best qualified to lec¬ 
ture, but her audience preferred to hear her opinions 
to any that they could give. 

Symmes was outraged at Anne’s courage and led 
in the movement against her. She was finally put on 
trial before the general court of Massachusetts. In 
the court sat most of the famous men of that day. 
All were equally determined to convict Anne and to 
send her from the colony. With so much determina¬ 
tion Anne was, of course, convicted and banished 
from the colony. 

“I desire to know wherefore I am banished?” 
Anne asked bravely, the spirit of the true colonial 
woman shining in her pleasant face. 

“Woman, say no more; the court knows where¬ 
fore and is satisfied,” returned Governor Winthrop, 
grimly. 

With a smile Anne left the court room, for she 
was at peace with herself and the world, knowing 
she had done no wrong. Then some of the people in 
the little town tried to turn Anne’s husband against 
her, but he would not listen to a word of their argu¬ 
ments. So together with their children they went to 
Aquidneck, Rhode Island, where Roger Williams had 
established a settlement of religious freedom. One 
of the principles of the new colony was that no one 
was “to be accounted a delinquent for doctrines.” 
Here the Hutchinsons were comparatively happy and 


144 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


for a time lived at peace, enjoying their own beliefs. 

By and by another great sorrow came to Anne in 
the death of her beloved husband. How she missed 
him and how the children longed to have their good 
father back again! But with the indomitable spirit 
that was hers Anne pushed on. She thought she 
would be happier if she went somewhere else to live, 
so she decided to go to the Dutch colony in New 
Netherland, and settled in what is now New Ro¬ 
chelle, a suburb of New York City. 

Soon after Anne’s coming to the new colony In¬ 
dians took the warpath. She and all of her children 
were made prisoners in their home, and all but one 
little girl died when the Indians burned the house. 
The eight-year-old daughter escaped to tell the world 
of the fate of her mother and the other children. 
When the clergy heard of the terrible tragedy they 
rejoiced, stating it was a positive sign of Anne’s guilt 
of heresy. No woman has done more for the freedom 
of religion than did this brave woman who died in 
1643. 




HYPATIA 


R emember that the most beautiful things in 
. the world are the most useless; peacocks and 
lilies, for instance,” once wrote John Ruskin, but 
Hypatia, one of the most beautiful women noted in 
history, disproved this statement. Not only was she 
one of the most famous of beauties, possessing great 
charm and grace, but she was also one of the most 
gifted of women, being one of the most learned and 
brilliant women who has ever lived. 

So many years have passed since Hj^atia lived 
that she seems to us almost a myth. Yet history 
tells us that she was born some time in 355. Per¬ 
haps it was the times and the environment which 
surrounded her from her baby days which made Hy¬ 
patia grow into the wonderful woman she did. Her 
intelligent father, Theon, a celebrated astronomer 
145 


10 


146 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


and mathematician of the fourth century after 
Christ, gave his daughter all of the training in phil¬ 
osophy obtainable at the time. From her very young 
days she was carefully trained to take her father’s 
place as lecturer in Alexandria. 

The gay, reckless life of Alexandria appealed not 
at all to Hypatia, who was a real student. There 
was nothing Hypatia liked to do better than discuss 
puzzling problems in philosophy with her learned 
father. Even when she was still in her teens Hypatia 
was talked of as a learned philosopher, and as she 
grew older her fame spread. It was not long until 
her lectures drew students from all parts of the East, 
and not only did she keep improving in oratory but 
in beauty as well. 

From the story of her life Charles Kingsley wove 
a romantic story, “Hypatia,” which has been widely 
read and which gives a vivid portrait of this wonder¬ 
ful girl and her charms. In one place Kingsley says: 

“In the light arm chair, reading a manuscript which lay 
on the table, sat a woman of some five and twenty years, 
evidently the tutelary goddess of that little shrine, dressed 
in perfect keeping with the archaism of the chamber, in a 
simple old snow-white Ionic robe, falling to the feet and 
reaching to the throat, and of that peculiarly severe, and 
graceful fashion in which the upper part of the dress falls 
downward again from the neck to the waist in a sort of 
cape, while it leaves the arms and points of the shoulders 
bare.” 

^ The pupils who came to study with Hypatia car¬ 
ried the fame of her wisdom and beauty abroad and 
her classes became more and more popular. At last 


HYPATIA 


147 


she became so popular that she was deemed to be a 
menace to the peace of Alexandria. Besides, Cyril, 
the bishop of the city, became jealous of her. This 
is supposed to have created a feud between the bishop 
and prefect of the wicked city, as well as many other 
quarrels. 

Friends began to warn Hypatia to cease her philo¬ 
sophical teachings and leave the city, but the young 
woman would not believe the rumors. She saw noth¬ 
ing wrong with her teachings and she knew that her 
influence was good, and she also knew that there 
were few enough good people in the wicked city. 
As she thought of her work and friends Hypatia 
knew that she could never leave them and so she con¬ 
tinued giving her brilliant lectures. 

Cyril incited the lower clergy, whose anger had 
also been kindled against Hypatia, to seize her one 
day upon her return home from her lecture. The 
wild mob took her from her carriage, stripped her 
and dragged her body through the streets of Alex¬ 
andria to a church called Caesareum, where she was 
beaten to death. 



JEAN INGELOW 


T he beloved name of Jean Ingelow is enshrined 
in the hearts of many children, for she has en¬ 
deared herself to them through the ages by the many 
beautiful children’s stories which she has written. 
The books of some authors, just like the pictures of 
some painters, are always eagerly sought after when 
they are once known, and after hearing Ingelow’s 
“Mopsa, the Fairy,” nearly every child will clamor 
for more of her stories. 

All of her life Jean Ingelow was a very quiet, re- 
served person, and because of this trait she was very 
unwilling for the world to know much about her life 
when she became famous enough for people to want 
to know something about her. It is to the regret 
of every one that nothing is known of her parents, 
or of her sisters and brothers, or even if she had 
148 


JEAN INGELOW 


149 


any. The house in which she was born has never 
come into prominence as so many other houses do 
where famous people first saw the light of this world. 

We do know that this talented woman was born 
some time in the year 1820, though sometimes we 
find this date given as 1830. She was born in the old 
town of Boston in Lincolnshire, England, and that 
she loved her birthplace and homeland is easily 
proved by the many references she made to both in 
her delightful verse. 

Jean must have had a good education and an ex¬ 
cellent training, for the strength of her beautiful, 
honest character can be felt in all of her work. She 
began writing at a very early age, but the honorable 
reputation that came to be hers she did not gain 
until the publication of her second book in 1863. The 
years of her young womanhood must have been filled 
with intense study, wide reading and deep thought. 
As one authority has written it was just as the voice 
of Mrs. Browning grew silent that the songs of Miss 
Ingelow began and had instant popularity. 

Jean’s first volume of verses called “A Rhyming 
Chronicle of Incidents and Things” appeared in 
1850, appearing anonymously. These simple poems 
told in beautiful language excited a good bit of in¬ 
terest, but it was the next volume of poems which 
made Jean famous. Among the poems found in this 
volume are ‘The High Tide on the Coast of Lincoln¬ 
shire,” “Songs of Seven,” “Supper at the Mill” and 
“Divided,” all of which possess an appeal which 
made them instantly successful and made Jean In- 
gelow’s name one to be remembered and honored. 


160 DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 

This book ran into twenty editions in five years and 
with the writing of more prose and poetry her popu¬ 
larity increased. 

In 1867 Jean published “The Story of Boon, and 
Other Poems,” which was well received and was fol¬ 
lowed in 1885 by “Poems of the Old Days and the 
New.” “Off the Skelligs” published in 1872 was her 
first novel of any length, and the charm of her poetry 
is strongly felt in this story. “Failed to Be Free” 
appearing the next year is a sequel to the first novel. 
Of no other author can it be said that his writings 
were more popular in another country than in his 
native land.^ Jean Ingelow’s books seemed to be 
liked better in America than her own country, but 
even there they were widely read. 

Among Jean’s other books are “Don John,” 
“Sarah de Berenger,” “Studies for Stories,” “John 
Jerome,” “Stories Told to a Child,” “The Sunshine 
Jackdaw, A Motto Changed” and various others. 
But always Jean’s poems of a lyric ballad nature 
were her best writing, being filled with the sweet¬ 
ness of her character. 

After a life of loving toil, death came to Jean 
Ingelow in 1897. Little more is known of her burial 
place than of her birthplace. The finest and most 
living memorials of this author are her inspiring 
poems of sweet comfort, which undoubtedly are the 
most satisfying Jean could have chosen for herself. 


V <^Mjji/n q/ii 


QUEEN ISABELLA 

H ad not Queen Isabella of Castile been such an 
ardent and fanatical religious advocate she 
probably would never have listened to the pleas of 
Columbus and the history of America would prob¬ 
ably have been totally different. This charming 
queen first became famous for the financial help, 
advice and sympathy she gave Columbus, the poor 
lad who could find no one else to listen to his plans. 

Queen Isabella was born so many years ago that 
little is known of her childhood and in those days 
few records were made and kept; and when she was 
born, sometime in 1451, no one probably ever 
thought that she would do anything that the world 
would care to remember her by. Her father was 
King John the Second of Castile and Leon, a very 
able and just man, and her mother was a charming 
151 


152 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


and cultured woman. The little girl probably en¬ 
joyed her life very much in the gay palaces where 
she lived, and doubtless spent many a happy and 
carefree day with playmates and brothers and 
sisters, if she had any. There is no record in history 
of any of her relatives, except her father. 

From a pretty, good-natured child, Isabella grew 
into a charming woman of great courage and 
sagacity, deeply interested in many movements, 
from the very first being a devout Catholic. Her 
father died when she was six years old and this 
made her a queen, so she ruled over empires from 
1457 till her death in 1504. 

Despite great political opposition and dissension. 
Queen Isabella married Ferdinand of Aragon, an¬ 
other province of Spain, in 1469. By the union of 
these two powerful kingdoms the foundation of 
Spain’s future greatness and power was firmly laid. 

Shortly after her marriage Queen Isabella and 
her husband plunged their countries into a ten-year 
war against the Moors in the hope that they would 
be able to drive the Mohammedan religion out of 
their realm. During this time Queen Isabella’s in¬ 
terest in religious affairs grew ever deeper and she 
spent much of her time in pious work and prayer. 
With the capture of Granada in 1492 the war ended, 
and with the subjection of the Moorish leaders, who 
were driven from the kingdom with the Jews and 
other Moors in the country, the realm was free from 
the Mohammedans and left to the Catholics. 

So eager was the queen to rid the kingdom of un¬ 
religious people and disbelievers that she resurrected 


QUEEN ISABELLA 


153 


the Court of Inquisition, one of the most dreadful 
laws of olden times. For many years hundreds of 
people had to bow before the most unjust and in¬ 
famous laws ever made. Persons suspected of heresy 
were often arrested and condemned to imprisonment 
or death. Hundreds and hundreds were burnt at the 
stake and the kind-hearted, once-loved queen became 
very unpopular. People wondered what had come 
over the gentle Isabella and forever after her name 
was linked along with the awful days of the Inquisi¬ 
tion. 

It was during these days that Columbus, poor and 
ragged, yet afire with ambition and courage, came 
to Queen Isabella and asked her to aid him in his 
daring project of finding a shorter way to India. 
At first the queen did not appear to be deeply inter¬ 
ested in his plans. But when Columbus assured her 
that the natives he would find in the new world, or 
dwelling in whatever other lands he might find, were 
to be converted to her religion she readily consented 
to help him. Because of the condition of the affairs 
of her country Isabella had no ready money to give 
Columbus for ships and equipment, but she sold 
some of her fine jewels and so helped him. 

There were few people living in the world at the 
time more interested in Columbus’ daring journey 
than Queen Isabella, and day after day she waited 
anxiously to hear how he was progressing. During 
her marriage Isabella contributed largely to the re¬ 
markable events which happened during the reign 
of her husband. These included the introduction of 
the Inquisition in 1440, the discovery of America 


154 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


in 1492 and the final expulsion of the Moors after 
the conquest of Granada, 

Even to the last days of her life Queen Isabella 
was always active and deeply interested in the af¬ 
fairs of her country. 



V 



HELEN HUNT JACKSON 

F ew who have read the beautiful lines of Helen 
Hunt Jackson’s best known poem, “October,” but 
wish to know more about the delightful writer’s life 
and the sunny, buoyant nature which guided her to 
write such appealing rhymes. Yet strangely enough 
it was after intense sorrow had wounded Mrs. 
Jackson’s soul so deeply that life seemed to hold very 
little for her that she wrote the wonderful things 
which she left as a beautiful benediction behind her 
when her life ended. 

Nathan W. Fiske, professor of philosophy and 
languages at Amherst College, Amherst, Massa¬ 
chusetts, a man of strong and vigorous mind, and 
his wife, a sunny-natured, active, spirited woman, 
welcomed little Helen in their cultured home on the 
eighteenth of October in 1831. It was one of those 
155 


156 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


beautiful autumn days, which in her later years 
Mrs. Jackson described so beautifully thus: 

“0 suns and skies and clouds of June, 

And flowers of June together, 

Ye cannot rival for one hour 
October’s bright blue weather.” 

All of her life this little baby was to like the beauties 
of autumn, as well as all of the wonders of the great 
out of doors. Even before she could toddle about 
little Helen had been taught to listen to, and love 
the songs of birds, to watch the flitting butterflies, 
the scampering squirrels, the flowers unfold, and 
the other magic mysteries that Mother Nature is 
so glad to show to all who are interested in her 
lavish splendor. Amid these beautiful surroundings 
and good influences the baby thrived and grew into 
a wilful, ardent child with a passionate love for ev¬ 
erything which suffered. 

When Helen was only a few years old her parents 
started reading to her, and being deeply interested 
in current and political events much of what was 
read aloud pertained to the government’s treatment 
of the Indians. It was not long before the intelligent 
little girl began speaking about “her injured In¬ 
dians.” From the very beginning the emotional little 
girl was a champion of all those she considered 
treated unjustly, and even at that time she felt that 
the Indians were not being dealt with fairly. 

By and by a new little girl came to the Fiskes, and 
like her older sister, Helen, she also grew into an 
active, light-hearted child. Helen and Annie were 
always together and what wonderful times they had. 


HELEN HUNT JACKSON 


157 


though it was always the older sister who ventured 
the farthest, suggested the games to play, and was 
the general leader. 

When Helen was a woman she liked to tell about 
an April morning when she and Annie were permit¬ 
ted to go into the woods after checkerberries. As they 
trotted down the path, hand in hand, their mother 
stood in the doorway and called after them to be sure 
to return in time for school. It was a beautiful day 
and Helen, remembering how much more she liked 
the woods than the stuffy schoolroom, tried to coax 
Annie to spend the day with her among the trees, 
but the young sister would not be coaxed. 

But Helen could not stand the idea of being shut 
in a school room on such a perfect day and so, remem¬ 
bering a venturesome schoolmate, the daughter of a 
neighbor, she took Annie home and skipped over to 
this girl’s house. At first her friend refused to ac¬ 
company her but Helen promised her that she would 
show her some living snails and other wonders, so 
she went along. 

From one forest to another the two little girls 
roamed, scarcely knowing what to do as they became 
hungrier and more tired than they had ever been in 
their lives. Now and then her friend started to cry 
but Helen’s brave spirit was undaunted. Finally 
they came to a stranger’s cabin where they were 
given food and told that there was to be a funeral 
in a nearby village. 

After the folk left the house Helen urged her 
companion to follow the farmer to see where the 
funeral was to be, and finally they came to the town 


158 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


and followed the mourners to the meeting house. 
Here two professors from the school who had been 
alarmed by the girls’ absence, found them and took 
them to their homes. Helen’s parents were very 
angry with her and punished her by shutting her 
up in the garret. But with her lively imagination 
even here the little girl had quite a nice time. 

When Helen was only twelve years old both her 
father and mother died. She and Annie went to live 
with their grandfather. Soon she was sent to school, 
which fortunately was taught by the writer, the 
Reverend J. S. C. Abbott of New York, and almost 
unconsciously Helen absorbed many of his ideas. 
The rest of her girlhood was filled with studies, and 
so she grew into a frank, merry, impulsive woman 
very fond of society and as brilliant and attractive 
as any belle. 

Helen was married when she was twenty-one 
years old to a gay young army captain, who after¬ 
ward became a major, named Edward B. Hunt. He 
was very handsome and his curly hair was one of 
his chief attractions, giving him the nickname of 
“Cupid.” Most of the time the young couple lived 
in West Point or Newport where Helen went among 
the most fashionable society, one of the gayest and 
most attractive of all of the society women, with 
never a thought that sadness or hard work would 
enter her happy life. 

A baby came to claim Helen’s attention, but when 
he was only eleven months old he died, but Warren 
Horsford, more familiarly known as “Rennie” came 
soon to take his place. There was no one that Helen 


HELEN HUNT JACKSON 


159 


loved more than this bright, beautiful little boy and 
she became more and more attached to him. 

Major Hunt was always experimenting with 
things of his own invention, and on the second of 
October, 1863, a submarine gun he invented and 
was experimenting with in Brooklyn blew up and 
killed him. There followed terrible days for Helen 
and she clung more passionately to her eight-year- 
old Rennie. But in less than two years the little boy 
contracted diphtheria and he died. 

For months afterward the mother shut herself up 
in her room, refusing to see anyone and the doctors 
thought there was nothing but death for her, but 
even though she was crushed by her overwhelming 
sorrows the brave young woman was not defeated. 
Three months after the boy’s death Helen wrote one 
of the most beautiful poems she ever composed, 
“Lifted Over,” which appeared in the Nation and 
was widely copied and comforted many a bereaved 
mother. Many a beautiful and kindly letter filled 
with sympathetic and comforting words traveled to 
Helen’s room and by and by she grew stronger and 
more resolved that her life should not be useless. 

In 1865, at the age of thirty-four, and amid the 
strife and gloom of the Civil War Helen began her 
absorbing, painstaking literary work, studying the 
best models in composition and giving her very best 
efforts and all of her strength to her work. Her first 
prose sketch telling about a walk to Mt. Washington 
appeared in 1866, which was very soon followed by 
her beautiful poem, “Coronation,” appearing in the 
Atlantic Monthly. 


160 DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 

The following year she spent traveling in Ger¬ 
many and Italy, becoming very ill in Rome. Upon 
her return in 1870 she published a slender little 
book of poems under the initials of H. H., which was 
well received. Encouraged by her success she had 
published two other books, “Bits of Travel” and 
“Bits of Talk About Home Matters.” 

So hard and so faithfully did she work that the 
vigorous health of her childhood again failed her 
and she went to Colorado, hoping that a change of 
atmosphere would benefit her. Never having lost 
her great fondness of nature the beauty of Colorado 
impressed her deeply and she wrote a book about the 
wonders of the state. In Colorado Springs, where 
she made her home, her old interest in Indian mat¬ 
ters was again aroused and grew in vigor. 

In 1876 she married William Sharpless Jackson, 
a cultured Quaker banker and their home became a 
most ideal one surrounded with many beautiful 
flowers and shrubs. Here in her beautiful home, 
once more surrounded by the pleasures of life, Mrs’ 
Jackson wrote “Mercy Philbrick’s Choice,” and 
“Hetty’s Strange History.” 

Mre. Jackson, however, was not satisfied in merely 
writing novels for pleasure and decided that she 
must have a definite purpose to depict before she 
could write another book. So she began to think of 
a purpose, to help the Indians, whom she felt had 
been defrauded. Leaving her home she spent three 
months in the Astor Library in New York, where 
she wrote “A Century of Dishonor.” 

Once again she worked so hard and steadily that 


HELEN HUNT JACKSON 


161 


she became ill and on the book’s completion went to 
Norway. As soon as this book was published she 
sent, at her own expense, a copy to each member of 
Congress and the government was so impressed with 
it that they appointed her a special commissioner to 
look after Indian affairs in California. 

It was during this time that Mrs. Jackson wrote 
her able articles which appeared later in the 
Century. But still the talented woman was not satis¬ 
fied with her efforts in behalf of these people. She 
kept dreaming of writing a book that would do for 
the Indians what Mrs. Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” 
had done for the negroes. 

In the winter of 1883, Mrs. Jackson began her 
most famous and best loved book “Ramona,” and 
as she said, “I put my heart and soul into it.” It is a 
wonderful novel with a great purpose. In June, 
1884 Mrs. Jackson happened to stumble as she was 
coming down stairs, falling and fracturing her leg, 
and was confined to the house for several months. 
Thinking that a change of climate might be of bene¬ 
fit to her rapidly declining health, Mrs. Jackson 
decided to spend the winter in Los Angeles, where 
she soon became a victim of malarial fever. She then 
went to San Francisco. 

Although struggling bravely amid declining 
health, Mrs. Jackson had no fear of death, which she 
felt swiftly approaching, and just four days before 
she died she wrote to President Cleveland and 
thanked him for what he had done for her beloved 
Indians. So with a brave smile on her lips she died 
on the twelfth of August, 1885. She was at first 

11 


162 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


buried on Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado, but as 
this spot became a great recreation center for tour¬ 
ists, her family had her body reinterred in the ceme¬ 
tery at Colorado Springs. 



JOAN OF ARC 


T here is no woman in history whose name is 
more familiar and who is more greatly loved 
than Joan of Arc. She has often been called “The 
Maid of Orleans” and “The Savior of France.” Prob¬ 
ably no character in history has a stronger appeal 
to the imagination than does this simple peasant girl 
in her gentleness, charity, piety, and determination. 
Many historical biographies and sketches have been 
written about Joan’s short life of nineteen years, and 
her tragic career has been the subject of many 
poems, stories, pictures, and dramas. 

Joan was born on the sixth of January, 1412. 
The little cottage in which she was born still stands 
in Domremy, France, and is preserved as a museum. 
Within the cottage is a copy of the beautiful statue 
of Joan made by Marie d’Orleans. 


163 


164 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


Domremy is still a quiet little village just as it 
was in Joan’s day and the simple folk that lived 
there still dwell in about the same manner as they 
did so many years ago. The men and women still 
go together to till the fields, just as they did in 1412, 
and the houses still cluster close together. In Joan’s 
day Domremy was on the very border of the Duchy 
of Lorraine, that tragic little country over which 
France and Germany have fought so much. 

Joan was a very lively baby, and from the very 
first the mother knew that this child with the dark 
dreamy eyes had inherited many more of her char¬ 
acteristics than any of her other children. Joan’s 
parents were simple, contented peasants, and the 
little girl soon learned to help spin, sew, and tend her 
father’s sheep. There was nothing Joan liked to do 
better than roam around under the beautiful trees 
that grew in and near the village, and to dream and 
listen to the whisperings of the winds stirring 
through the leafy boughs. 

In the village there was a stronghold called the 
“Castle of the Isle,” because the Meuse River 
forked there and encircled it. A large wall sur¬ 
rounded the yard of the castle, providing a space for 
a spacious garden, encircled by a moat, that was the 
delight of all the children. The castle was the prop¬ 
erty of the rich people of the country, but was leased 
by the villagers who thought it would make a good 
shelter if they were ever attacked. One of the two 
chief tenants of the castle was Joan’s father, so 
often she and her brothers and her sisters played 
about and in this great old building. Among the 


































































































































166 DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 

village children was a modest little girl about Joan’s 
age named Hauviette, and the two became almost 
inseparable. 

At that time everyone delighted in telling legends 
and tales, and the peasant folk were even more su¬ 
perstitious than they are today. Among the favor¬ 
ite legends told at that time was a tale that a maiden 
from the borders of Lorraine would one day save 
France. Joan’s radiant eyes would glow with a 
more indomitable spirit every time she heard that 
tale, and over and over again she asked to have it 
repeated. 

It was not the custom then for a girl to receive a 
very extensive education so Joan was never sent to 
school, but her mother taught her to read and write 
and do many other things. So Joan grew into a 
modest, generous girl with refined manners and 
pious thoughts. She often attended the little church 
near her home, and it was here, when she was only 
thirteen years old, that she first heard the wonderful 
voices which she was to hear all the rest of her life, 
and which later sent her on the mission to save 
France. A beautiful chapel now stands on the hill¬ 
side that Joan so often frequented and which tradi¬ 
tion says was where Joan first heard the voices which 
bade her go forth as a soldier. 

It was while Joan’s beloved France was being 
crushed and fighting for its very existence that she 
began to see more marvelous visions than ever. The 
young girl was of a great emotional nature and suf¬ 
fering always tore at her heart. One day she be¬ 
lieved she saw an angel who told her to go and save 


JOAN OF ARC 


167 


her country. Her friends and parents tried to keep 
her from following this command, but Joan would 
not listen, and at last she obtained consent to go and 
see King Charles of France. 

Dressed in her awkward red peasant clothes Joan 
was presented to the king. She convinced him that 
if any one could save France she would do it, and a 
short time later in January, 1429, dressed in armor 
and carrying a sword she rode away from Domremy. 
She was placed at the head of the French troops and 
her invincible courage gave the soldiers new hope 
and strength with the result that the siege of Or¬ 
leans was lifted. 

The rough soldiers would not even acknowledge 
King Charles as their king but they paid the great¬ 
est homage to Joan. After the siege of Orleans the 
young girl led them in four other engagements in 
which they were victorious and then they marched 
to Rheims, where Charles was crowned as king, with 
Joan standing by his side. Everywhere Joan was 
reverenced and honored and hailed as the Savior of 
France. 

Even after all this excitement and honor Joan was 
still the same simple, modest girl she had been in 
Domremy, and she wanted to return home, but King 
Charles would not permit it. She was again placed 
at the head of soldiers and led a fierce attack on 
Paris, where she was badly wounded by the English 
on the twenty-ninth of May, 1430, and was captured 
by the Burgundians, French soldiers who were al¬ 
lied with the British. These sgldiers sold her to the 
English for about three thousand dollars. The Eng- 


168 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


lish had heard of her wonderful courage and brav¬ 
ery and were determined that if they ever captured 
her she should die. So ofter a long imprisonment in 
which Joan suffered terribly, she was tried as a 
witch and a heretic and condemned to be burned at 
the stake on the thirtieth of May, 1431. Ten thou¬ 
sand men stood in the market place of Eouen that 
fair May morning and saw Joan meet a martyr’s 
death with the same unfaltering courage with which 
she had met life. The ashes of her body were gath¬ 
ered and thrown in the Rouen River. 

In 1456 Joan’s case was again tried in the courts 
and she was pronounced innocent of any crime. In 
1902 she was beatified by Pope Pius, which gave her 
a saint’s place in the Roman Catholic Church. In¬ 
numerable statues and monuments have been dedi¬ 
cated to this noble girl, and a beautiful statue has 
been placed on the spot in Rouen where she met her 
death. 



HELEN KELLER 

R eal happiness grows from the resolution to do 
something each day that will leave a pleasant 
memory,” so said Helen Keller in a speech she made 
in Boston. Helen Keller is a remarkable figure, not 
because of some heroic historical deed she has done, 
but because through her own remarkable efforts and 
keen intellect she learned how to talk despite the fact 
that she was deaf, dumb and blind. The history of 
Helen’s life should be an inspiration to all who read 
and hear about the courageous woman. 

Arthur and Kate Keller lived in a tiny rose- 
covered cottage in Tuscumbia, Alabama, where 
Helen was born on the twenty-seventh of June, 1880. 
The parents were very proud of their soft-eyed baby 
girl and there was considerable discussion as to 
what she should be called, but at last it was agreed 


169 


170 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


she should be named Helen Adams. How happy the 
young parents were with their rollicking, active baby 
and how they planned and dreamed of her future. 

For nineteen months Helen lived the happy life 
of a baby, learning to walk and then to toddle faster 
and go out into the beautiful garden and about the 
tiny rooms. Even then she loved animals, and in 
later life she said, “All my life I have been inter¬ 
ested in animals.” She has visited all the important 
zoological parks and menageries in the cities where 
she has been. She told about touching a coyote and 
a Colorado wolf and said, “All these contacts with 
animal life have helped to make the world I live in 
real and vastly interesting.” 

When Helen was nineteen months old she had 
scarlet fever and for weeks her life was despaired 
of. Her parents did everything to comfort the little 
sufferer and at last she grew better. But she was 
never to see again or to hear, and there was no voice. 
It was a big, still, dark world that the little child 
woke into and she was puzzled. 

During those weeks of intense suffering she had 
forgotten everything she had learned to do and was 
as helpless as a tiny baby. Bit by bit, by taking hold 
of her mother’s dress and hands Helen was taught to 
walk again and coaxed to gain more courage. By 
and by the dark world in which she lived grew less 
mysterious and finally Helen was coaxed into walk¬ 
ing about alone, and so she toddled out into the gar¬ 
den again. By and by, too, she was taught to make 
signs when she wished things, but the baby’s temper 
was sorely tried. She grew very fretful and peevish. 


HELEN KELLER 


171 


The Kellers moved to a larger house, and the 
strangeness of the place was hard for the little 
Helen to understand. It took a long time for her 
again to gain enough courage to go about alone. 
Then a little sister, Mildred, came and Helen’s 
mother had little time to devote to her afflicted child. 

Helen was so lonely and suffered so desperately in 
her black prison shut out from the beauties she had 
loved that she scarcely knew what to do. She became 
so nervous that her parents grew very anxious about 
her and it was decided that Mr. Keller should take 
her to a specialist in Boston. Prom Boston Helen 
and her father went to Washington to see Dr. Alex¬ 
ander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, 
who was deeply interested in deaf and dumb chil¬ 
dren. 

Dr. Bell advised Mr. Keller to try and get a teach¬ 
er for Helen, explaining that if she were given an 
opportunity to use her surplus energy and ambition 
in a useful way the condition of her health and tem¬ 
per would improve. He promised to help the Kellers 
try and find a good teacher, and he found a noble 
woman at the Perkins Institute for the Blind in Bos¬ 
ton who was willing to try and help the child. 

The day that Miss Anne Sullivan came into 
Helen’s life was a wonderful day, and it is to this 
remarkable woman that Miss Keller owes all of her 
advancement and happiness in life. No one could 
have been more patient and loving with the sensitive 
child than was Miss Sullivan, and through the means 
of them the big world was again opened up for 
Helen to drink from. The very first day Helen was 


172 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


called in from the porch, where she was running 
rose petals through her fingers to learn how to spell 
a word. While she was trying to teach the little 
child to spell Miss Sullivan put the object in her 
other hand and with delightful eagerness Helen 
learned how to spell word after word. 

Though the little girl was so eager to learn and 
learned so rapidly, she did so without any under¬ 
standing at all, for her little mind could not seem to 
grasp the significance of things. Then one day the 
poor little girl seemed to be breaking her heart over 
a doll with a broken head, and all of her tenderest 
emotions were at the straining point. Miss Sullivan 
took her out to the pump and slowly pouring some 
water over one hand spelled out the word in the other 
palm. A bright light flashed across the child’s face 
and from that time her understanding began to de¬ 
velop. 

Slowly, very slowly, the world came to be a great 
and fascinating place to the little Helen, and ever 
the infinite patience of the noble teacher made it an 
interesting and beautiful world to the little unfor¬ 
tunate child. Miss Sullivan felt that a real pearl 
had been given into her keeping to develop and pro¬ 
tect as best she could and nothing that she could 
do for Helen was too hard or monotonous. 

Helen’s education progressed rapidly and a special 
typewriter was made for her to use by which she 
could do all her writing. Then when the little girl 
was ten years old she heard that another little girl 
in Norway, afflicted as she was, had learned to speak 
by careful training. Helen was determined that she 


HELEN KELLER 


173 


was going to learn to talk and was encouraged in 
this belief by Miss Sullivan who took her to Miss 
Fuller, a teacher in New York. 

Miss Fuller was greatly impressed by the child’s 
earnest sincerity and gave her seven lessons. Upon 
returning home Helen and Miss Sullivan worked day 
and night until in about a month’s time Helen could 
talk, rather imperfectly, but the power of correct 
speech was developed later and now Miss Keller 
talks to large audiences with perfect ease. She is a 
very popular lecturer and has spoken in many cities. 

As Helen grew older and learned how to talk bet¬ 
ter she yearned to obtain a better education and so 
was permitted to attend the Wright-Humason, and 
Cambridge Schools in Boston and entered Radcliffe 
College in 1900, graduating four years later. Her 
faithful teacher and constant companion. Miss Sul¬ 
livan, attending all classes with her, and repeated 
in hand language the contents of the lectures and 
the class discussions. 

After graduating from college Helen contributed 
articles to a number of different magazines as well 
as wrote a number of books, among these being: 
“Story of My Life,” “Optimism,” “World I Live In,” 
“Song of the Stone Wall” and “Out of the Dark.” 
One of the finest tributes paid to this noble woman is 
given in the “Girl Who Found the Bluebird” by Miss 
Maeterlinck, written after a visit to the blind and 
deaf girl. 



' XujQJ^ £aju:/y7rj 


LUCY LARCOM 

T he name of Lucy Larcom is associated with 
our childhood days and even in after years re¬ 
calls happy memories and busy days, for Lucy was 
a light-hearted, active child. For years Lucy’s fa¬ 
ther was a seafaring man with a great love for ad¬ 
venture and a remarkable talent for telling interest¬ 
ing stories, but a short time before his seventh 
daughter’s birth he gave up this life on the water 
and started a little shop. There were eight older 
sisters and brothers to greet little Lucy when she 
appeared in 1826, the two half sisters being grown 
women at the time. Lucy was born in Beverly, 
Massachusetts, near the site of the town clock and 
Old South Steeple, and as she states “opened her 
eyes on the green rocky strip of shore between 
Beverly Bridge and Misery Island.” 


174 


LUCY LARCOM 


175 


The house and surroundings where Lucy was born 
was filled with romance and beauty, which early 
appealed to the little girl, and she never forgot the 
great old-fashioned kitchen with its big “Dutch 
oven.” What happy days Lucy spent in these rooms 
with her sisters and brothers, and by and by, when 
Octavia came Lucy and her next oldest sister, Lida, 
had more fun than ever. The baby was so cunning 
and it was so much fun to sing to her the hymns 
that Lida and Lucy sang together. The two little 
girls even tried to get the baby sister to skip down 
the flight of stairs which led from their school-room 
to the outside and then on down to the garden filled 
with spearmint and wormwood. Here often the girls 
found “Aunt Hannah” at work. Lucy started to 
school with Aunt Hannah when she was only a baby 
of two and by the time she was half a year older 
she knew her letters and could read simple sen¬ 
tences. Aunt Hannah kept her school in a room 
over Mr. Larcom’s shop and the neighbor children 
also came over. 

From the very first Lucy was hearty and robust 
and full of fun, having inherited the chatty, social, 
kindly nature of her rosy-cheeked, dimpled mother, 
and some of the spirit of her grandfather who fought 
in the Revolutionary War. But there came a time, 
while Lucy was still a baby, when a great sadness 
came to her as she looked at her father’s noble face 
as he lay in death. All of her life Lucy remembered 
what a studious, reserved and noble man her father 
was. 

When Lucy was two years old her mother started 


176 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


to take her to church, and even in those days it 
seemed to the small girl that Sunday morning always 
had a charm that no other morning had, as she 
wrote in after life, ^^So much cleaner than other 
mornings.’^ Her great love for hymns made Lucy 
learn many of the ones she heard at church long 
before any of her family knew what she was doing. 
When one day her motherly sister, Emilie, heard her 
crooning them to little Octavia, she was astonished 
and promised to give the child a new book when she 
had learned fifty hymns, and when she had learned 
one hundred she promised to teach her to write. 

Before her fourth birthday Lucy was the proud 
possessor of the new book and a short time later in 
great pride she took up the goose quill to write her 
first words. By the time Lucy was five years old 
she had read the ^^Scottish Chiefs,” and she soon 
became acquainted with ^Tilgrim^s Progress,” 
which became her favorite book and she always 
wished she could take the same kind of journey. 
She liked to read in the Bible, too. Her two brothers, 
Ben and John, liked to play upon the imaginative 
credulity of little Lucy and told her all kinds of 
wondrous and marvelous stories. But Lucy wished 
most of all to be like her grown-up sister, Louise, 
who was the tallest and prettiest of the Larcom 
children, and a really remarkable singer. Every 
holiday in the Larcom family was celebrated with 
lectures, recitations, songs and plays, which delight¬ 
ed none of the children more than it did Lucy. 

After the father’s death the Larcom family was 
poorer than ever. Many necessities were even denied 


LUCY LARCOM 


177 


the children and each one of them had to help with 
the work. When Lucy was only five or six years 
old she started going every morning after the milk 
and was happy that she could help. She could sew 
and make patchwork quilts quite well before she 
was seven years old, and she also learned how to 
knit stockings. Her seventh year was a notable one 
in the life of Lucy, for after a suggestion by John 
for a rainy day diversion the little girl made her 
first rhymes. It was not long till the neighbors 
heard about the remarkable poetry that Lucy could 
write and everyone demanded to read or hear it. 

After the eldest Larcom boy went to sea the estate 
was sold and the happy days on the beautiful old 
farm ceased. The rest of the family went to Lowell 
to live and to keep boarders. It was one of the great¬ 
est regrets of Lucy’s life to leave the rambling old 
garret and the lovely garden and she missed it all 
of her life. For the first time in their lives Lucy 
and Octavia became pupils in a regular school taught 
by a man, and the bright little Lucy was placed in 
the sixth grade, but on her birthday was put back 
in the first grade. Financial matters became worse 
and worse in the little home and Lucy was forced to 
take up work in a mill. Later she again had a chance 
to go three months to a grammar school and she 
studied and worked so hard that the teacher said 
she was about ready to enter high school. 

By this time, although Lucy was still a mere 
child, she began to reflect and think deeply about 
the life to come. Over and over again she wondered 
what she could do, and always when she asked her- 

12 


178 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


self what she wanted most to do she would think of 
being a school teacher, but by and by that dream 
sank into one of being an artist. In this latter dream 
her sister Emilie took part enthusiastically. 

Her very desires and yearnings to be understood 
forced Lucy into writing little rhymes, and then all 
at once she knew that she would have to write to 
express herself so she began to study and determined 
to learn all that she could. In this determination 
Emilie was always ready to help and a most willing 
teacher and loving guide. Her work at the mill was 
very wearisome and uncongenial, but during her 
spare moments at home Lucy fed her glowing spirit 
with her keen and vivid imagination and during this 
time she wrote enough poems to make twelve little 
home-bound volumes. 

When Lucy was thirteen years old she joined the 
church which she had attended so long, and here her 
vague, fitful desire to do something worth while 
often found an outlet in her activities for other girls. 
It was in the churches in Lowell that the two maga¬ 
zines published by the mill girls originated, called 
the Lowell Offering and the Operatives’ Magazine, 
the latter originating in the First Congregational 
Church which Lucy attended. These were the first 
publications to which Lucy contributed and for a 
time both were published separately but later they 
united in the Lowell Offering to which the young 
poetess became a regular contributor. 

“Every kind of work brings its own compensa¬ 
tions and attractions,” said Lucy at this period of 
her life, trying to be satisfied with her life of toil 


LUCY LARCOM 


179 


and stern denial. In 1845 Emilie married and the 
Larcom family disbanded, the mother returning to 
Beverly to stay with some of her relatives and Lucy 
remaining in Lowell and boarding with strangers. 
It was very hard for the young girl to do this as she 
had never been away from home ties before. Then 
after a year or so the health of Emilie’s husband 
failed and they decided to go to Illinois. They asked 
Lucy to go with them, suggesting that perhaps she 
could get a position as teacher of the district school, 
which work might be more congenial than the mill 
work. In the early spring of 1846 they left New 
England and then followed the experience of every 
pioneer in a new country. 

Lucy secured her school and had many interest¬ 
ing and peculiar experiences in teaching. She saved 
enough money to take a course at the Monticello 
Seminary, and during her first year at the school 
was appointed a teacher in the preparatory depart¬ 
ment, which was a separate school having thirty or 
forty girl students. Her teaching gave Lucy some 
time also to go on with her own studies, and after 
her graduation in 1852 she returned East where she 
continued teaching and writing in her spare mo¬ 
ments. It was only after her health failed and she 
could not go on with her school duties that she took 
up writing seriously. 

By and by her work attracted Whittier’s atten¬ 
tion and he became one of her best friends. For a 
while she was editor of Our Young Folks, a Bos¬ 
ton magazine which has since been absorbed by St. 
Nicholas. During these years she wrote many short 


180 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


stories and published several slender volumes- of 
poems, among them being “Childhood Songs” and 
“Wild Roses of Cape Ann.” She wrote an interest¬ 
ing account of her own life which is called “A New 
England Girlhood.” Perhaps her best known poem 
is “Hannah at the Window Binding Shoes,” which 
was long a favorite with the Hutchinson family of 
singers. Nothing in literature has appeared which 
portrays the pathos of life in a fishing village. 

After several years of ill health, but never fail¬ 
ing brightness, Lucy of the golden heart and glow¬ 
ing soul died in Boston on the seventeenth of April, 


1893. 



r 



JENNY LIND 

O N October the sixth, in the year 1820, Jenny 
Lind was born in Stockholm, Sweden. But be¬ 
cause the Americans loved her as well as her own 
country, we, too, call her the sweet “Swedish Night¬ 
ingale.” She was a small, broad-nosed, unattractive 
baby and grew into a shy, awkward girl. But no one 
ever thought that she was not pretty, because she 
was the most loving, unselfish and sincere child they 
met. She was always happy, singing about her work 
and play. Folk stopped to listen to her sweet, joy¬ 
ous voice, and went away wondering. 

As she grew older Jenny became prettier, and 
began taking singing lessons from Master Crollius. 
Few children ever worked so hard to develop their 
talent as did this small girl. Her parents were earn¬ 
est Christians, and early taught their children 


181 


182 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


to be faithful and true, and always to trust God. 
At an early age, Jenny joined the church near her 
home, of which she remained a member all her life. 

When Jenny was nine she was sent to school in 
her native city, to which a musical school was at¬ 
tached. Here she took more training. She soon be¬ 
came a skillful and attractive singer for one so 
young, and sang in the Royal Opera in Stockholm. 
From the age of fourteen to nineteen she appeared 
constantly in plays at the Royal Theatre, continuing 
her musical education at the Royal Academy. In 
1840 she was appointed court singer, and during the 
next two years often sang in opera, her first public 
appearance being in the opera, “Norma.” Her 
melodious, charming voice electrified all who heard 
her, and she became very popular, but she did not 
feel that she had had sufficient training. 

By this time she had grown into a handsome, mod¬ 
est woman, with many personal attractions. She 
finally went to Paris to study under Manual Garcia, 
a great singing master. At first he refused to give 
Miss Lind lessons, saying, “Madam, you have no 
voice left to train.” But at last he consented to give 
her lessons, if she rested her voice a while. He after¬ 
ward said that she was the most attentive and intel¬ 
ligent pupil he ever had. Through hard work and 
perseverance Jenny Lind added to the charm of her 
singing. 

In 1845 she returned to Sweden, and sang before 
Queen Victoria, who was visiting there, and the 
queen was much pleased. Her popularity increased, 
and Miss Lind was called upon to tour Europe, which 



















































































































184 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


she did, singing in all the larger cities. On the last 
evening that she sang in Vienna thousands of peo¬ 
ple escorted her carriage home, and she had to ap¬ 
pear thirty times at her window, to acknowledge 
their applause. She was not only known and loved 
for her voice, but for her infinite charities, which 
made her known as a saint among the poor. 

In 1847 the “Swedish Nightingale,” as she was 
often called, made her first appearance at Covent 
Garden in England. She was greeted with enthu¬ 
siasm, and the queen would have given her many 
costly gifts. However she would accept but one—a 
simple bracelet. 

“One of the finest pearls in the chaplet of song,” 
Meyerbeer called Jenny Lind, and it was as one of 
the most famous singers in the world that the people 
in the United States heard about her. So everyone 
rejoiced when they heard that the great singer was 
coming to this country in 1850. P. T. Barnum, the 
manager of a great circus, had induced her to come 
to America to sing, and everyone was enthusiastic, 
but the showmen’s friends. He had engaged Miss 
Lind to sing for a hundred and fifty nights, at a 
thousand dollars a night, and they predicted his 
ruin. But instead, he made thousands of dollars, and 
many were turned away, because there was no place 
to seat them. 

In February, 1852, Miss Lind married her Ger¬ 
man accompanist, Otto Goldschmidt, but she has al¬ 
ways been known to the music world by her maiden 
name. When her husband became leader of the Bach 
choir she sang frequently in oratorios and concerts. 


JENNY LIND 


185 


One of her daughters still lives in England, and she 
has a daughter who sings so beautifully that folk 
wonder if she will not be a second Jenny Lind. 

Madam Goldschmidt sang for the last time in 
public on July 23, 1883, in Spa at Malvern Hills, for 
a benevolent fund for the railway servants. 

The last summer of her life was spent with her 
husband in a little house in Malvern amid the scen¬ 
ery she loved so much. She was ill much of the time, 
but the sunshine of her soul never departed, and 
with perfect courage and simple faith she left this 
world November 2, 1887. 




MARY LYON 

T here is nothing in the universe that I fear 
but that I shall not know all my duty, or shall 
fail to do it. So said Mary Lyon, the noble woman 
who believed that education was the most precious 
thing in the world, and that to know how to read 
poetry helped one to make better puddings. 

The Lyons lived in a little farmhouse snuggled 
amid the hills and mountains around Buckland, 
Massachusetts, and here the little girl was born on 
the twenty-eighth of February, 1797. There were 
four older children to welcome the new baby, and 
later two more came to play with Mary, five of them 
being girls. Everybody was busy in the little farm¬ 
house and Mary soon learned to look out for her¬ 
self. From a healthy, lively baby she grew into an 
active, thoughtful child who liked to wander amid 
186 


MARY LYON 


187 


the roses, pinks, and other flowers in the garden and 
marvel at the sturdy trees which sheltered the little 
home. 

Even before Mary started to school she rose early 
in the morning with the other children and helped 
to pick weeds and grass for the animals, and do 
many other little tasks that her busy hands found 
to do. Mary often had to watch her younger sisters 
and brother when her mother and older sisters and 
brothers were busy. Even after Mary grew up she 
remembered one sad and lonely day when her father 
died. Everyone wondered what the mother with her 
seven children would do. But she was a good man¬ 
ager so there was always enough wholesome food and 
warm clothes for the cold winter. 

Soon school days started for Mary and she 
trudged cheerfully to the nearest district school, a 
mile away. But the next year the school was moved 
so the Lyon children had to walk two miles. But 
Mary thought even then that no effort was too great 
to make in order to learn. 

Meanwhile at home Mary was learning to do all 
of the things that every colonial girl was taught to 
do in those days, and she began to knit, weave, sew, 
mend, and cook. On holidays she helped her mother 
and sisters make candles and soap. So the years 
came and went and Mary’s bright eyes grew ever 
more eager to drink in all the knowledge that she 
could find and she read every book that she could 
get hold of. 

When Mary was twelve years old she made her 
first dress all alone, all the way from carding and 


188 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


weaving the wool to cutting and fitting it. The next 
year her mother married again and taking the 
younger children went away, leaving Mary to keep 
house for her only brother. Her brother gave her 
a dollar a week for her services, which she carefully 
saved to pay for a term of school in the neighbor¬ 
ing academy. In speaking about Mary one of her 
teachers said, “I should like to see what she would 
do if she could be sent to college.” But at that day 
there was no college to which girls could go. 

In the following years Mary got what education 
she could by going to one school and then another, 
and when she was only seventeen years old she began 
to teach school, receiving seventy-five cents a week 
and her board. From this small amount she man¬ 
aged to save what she could for that dreamed-of 
term at the academy. Her brother married but 
Mary stayed with him and helped his wife when¬ 
ever she could. Everyone loved Mary for her frank, 
gentle ways and her unselfish desire to be of help. 

When Mary was nineteen she had saved enough 
money to begin her term at the Sanderson Academy 
at Ashfield, so dressed in her blue homespun dress 
she appeared at the school one day. Many of the 
other girls laughed at her ill-fitting garments. But 
they soon learned that though Mary might not be 
dressed as nicely as they were she knew many things 
they did not, and that she could learn faster and 
easier than any of them. 

No one has ever been more eager to learn and 
absorb knowledge than was Mary Lyon, and she 
was quite as eager to impart it to others. Without 


UARY LYON 


189 


a thought of herself or her health the young girl 
often studied for twenty hours a day. One day the 
teacher gave her a Latin grammar and she learned 
in three days what the class was supposed to have in 
a term. 

“Mary Lyon is more alive than any girl I know 
of,” exclaimed Amanda White, Squire White’s 
daughter, one day, adding, “She has such a big, 
warm, beautiful life.” Mary soon became an inti¬ 
mate friend of this girl. Soon Amanda’s father be¬ 
came deeply interested in Mary and she was invited 
to come and live with them in their big, white, com¬ 
fortable house. 

A new life of wonderful promise opened up to 
Mary and she was not ashamed to ask her friends 
for help, so she rapidly overcame her awkwardness 
and carelessness of dress. By this time the small 
amount of money Mary had succeeded in saving was 
gone, but through the aid of Squire White she was 
given funds enough to attend Byfield Academy near 
Boston. Amanda went with her. 

At Byfield Academy Mary was as popular and 
well-loved as she had been at the Sanderson School. 
She had hardly finished her course when she was 
asked to come to Ashfield as the first woman teacher 
in the academy. She accepted this position and five 
years afterwards became the preceptress. At the 
age of twenty-five Mary was in great demand as a 
teacher, being the same earnest instructor that she 
had been pupil. She taught at Buckland and Ips¬ 
wich and was wanted everywhere. 

For nearly sixteen years she gave the best efforts 


190 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


of her splendid life for the education of young girls, 
and ever a great purpose and desire grew in her 
heart and mind. At that time there were more than 
one hundred colleges for men in Massachusetts but 
not until 1790 were girls admitted to the public 
schools in Boston. 

^We must provide a college for young women on 
the same conditions as those for men, with publicly 
owned buildings,’’ declared Mary, but few listened 
to her, for in those days people were not in favor 
of education for women. Mary knew that there were 
many girls, even as she had been, eager to learn, 
but who had little or no money to go to school, and 
she began wondering if a building could not be 
donated to them in which the pupils could do the 
work themselves. 

Despite great obstacles, the indomitable woman 
took up her task and through her earnestness en¬ 
listed the help of several interested men to act as 
trustees and promoters of a new school. Mary went 
from town to town, traveling by stage and doing 
everything within her power to get people inter¬ 
ested in the new school for girls. In this way she 
toiled on and at last won her desire, and the state of 
Massachusetts granted a charter for the new school. 
Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, now known as 
Holyoke College. 

It was the proudest moment in the courageous 
woman’s life when she stood on that morning of the 
eighteenth of November, 1836, in the five-story brick 
building welcoming the girls to the college. The col¬ 
lege grew and prospered, but Mary was never satis- 


MARY LYON 


191 


fied with conditions and ever strived to improve 
them. It was at this time that Mary said of her stu¬ 
dents, “If they would build high, they must not be 
satisfied with laying the foundation.” For twelve 
years Mary was the principal of Mount Holyoke and 
for thirty-five years she was a teacher there. 

Mary died on the fifth of March, 1849, at South 
Hadley, Massachusetts. She was buried on the 
Mount Holyoke Seminary grounds. A tablet set in 
a big boulder marks the scene of the birthplace of 
this noble, busy woman, and her influence has gone 
around the world, for she was truly a great builder. 




MARIE ANTOINETTE 

A fter reading about the gay, brilliant child- 
. hood days of Marie Antoinette and her tragic 
death it is hard to realize that once she was a care¬ 
free, innocent child, a general favorite of courts 
and a laughing, playful lass. The little girl who 
spent all of her life in grand palaces was born in 
one in Vienna on the second of November, 1755. 
Her father was Emperor Francis I, and her mother 
the noted Maria Theresa. Maria was the youngest 
of sixteen children and was named Marie Joseph de 
Lorraine Antoinette, afterward being called the 
Archduchess of Austria and still later the Queen of 
France. 

Amid the gay splendor of courtly scenes it was 
no wonder the little girl grew into a spoiled, jealous 
child. She was exceptionally beautiful and this to- 
192 


MARIE ANTOINETTE 


193 


gether with a demanding nature gave the young 
Marie great powers. There was scarcely a thing 
that the child wanted but she received, and although 
required to do some studying her education was not 
at all rigid. 

Most boys and girls would think that the young 
Dauphine would have been perfectly happy in the 
midst of such surroundings but Marie was never 
content. There was too much gaiety, too much 
lavishness, too much glamour for the young girl and 
try as she could she could find no solution to it all. 
Always she grew to be more thoughtless, more selfish 
and more extravagant and no one could curb her 
disposition. 

When Marie was only fifteen years old she was 
married to the French Dauphin at Versailles in true 
royal pomp. Her husband later became Louis the 
Sixteenth. From the days when Marie lay in a 
cradle her mother had destined her to be the queen 
of France, but the little Marie had always preferred 
liberty of expression and action to courtly etiquette. 
The marriage had been arranged to strengthen the 
alliance between France and Russia. 

Marie’s manners were ill suited to the French 
court and though the young queen tried hard to 
find novelty and relaxation in the gardens sur¬ 
rounding the Petit Trianon, or the Little Chateau, 
the gift of her husband, she was constantly thwarted 
by her ministers. The people called the delicate 
beauty “Austrian woman,” and scowling at her often 
called her “Madame Deficit” and “Madame Veto.” 

Marie loved society and shocked the people by her 

13 


194 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


contempt for all ceremonies. She soon made many 
enemies among the highest families. From the very 
first she did not hesitate to interfere needlessly with 
the government. By this time she had become very 
haughty and felt that she was far superior to the 
people over whom she reigned. 

From trying to entertain herself innocently with 
little pleasures the queen was driven into doing all 
kinds of wild deeds, and her freedom of manners 
grew rapidly until everybody was talking about the 
queen’s ways. Marie kept her great influence over 
the king even in those days and she was constantly 
opposing all kinds of reforms. It was during these 
days that the dreadful French Revolution was 
sweeping through the country and many people were 
so worried and harrassed they scarcely knew what 
to do. 

On the first of October, 1789, an enthusiastic re¬ 
ception was given to the queen at the guard’s ball 
in Versailles. This aroused the indignation of the 
people even more generally than it had been, and 
was followed in a few days by an insurrection of 
women; and an attack was made on Versailles. 

When the queen and her husband and children 
were practically prisoners she advised the royal fam¬ 
ily to flee, which ended in their capture and return. 
On the tenth of August, 1792, Marie heard the dis¬ 
position of her husband pronounced by the Legisla¬ 
tive Assembly and accompanied him to prison in the 
Temple. She showed the magnanimity of a heroine 
and the patient strength and endurance of a mar¬ 
tyr in these days. 


MARIE ANTOINETTE 


195 


In January, 1793, Marie was forced to part 
from her husband who had been condemned to death. 
In August of the same year the queen was removed 
to the Conciergerie, and in October she was brought 
to trial before the revolution tribunal. By this time 
the dreadful French Revolution was raging in all its 
terrible fury, inciting people to commit all kinds of 
unjust deeds and atrocious crimes. The queen was 
accused of having dissipated the country’s finances, 
of exhausting the treasury, of corresponding with 
foreign enemies of France, and of favoring domestic 
foes in the country. 

Even in the midst of her greatest tribulation 
Marie remained perfectly calm and self-possessed 
and with firmness she defended herself against the 
accusations of the people, and heard the sentence 
of death pronounced for her with the same perfect 
serenity. She died on the guillotine on the sixteenth 
of October, 1793, meeting death as bravely as she 
had lived through the last turbulent years of her 
eventful life. 



MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS 

She was gayer than a child! 

Laughter in her eyes ran wild! 

Words were kisses in her mouth! 

She was queen of all the south! 

S o wrote Alfred Noyes in his “Burial of a Queen” 
about Mary Stuart, better known as Mary, 
Queen of Scots, whose life story is one of the great 
tragedies of history. She has been called “the most 
beautiful, the weakest, the most attractive and most 
attracted of women.” It is said that her wonder¬ 
ful beauty passed the bounds of modesty and de¬ 
cades later inflamed the imaginations of poets and 
artists into impassioned creation. 

The serenity and dignity with which she met her 
tragic death is beautifully described by Schiller in 
his drama, “Maria Stuart.” Swinburne and Noyes 
196 


MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS 


197 


wrote some of their most beautiful poetry in honor 
of her, and other poets have written powerful lines 
on the tragic intrigues and jealousies aroused by 
her great beauty. 

Sometime in the winter of 1542, when all of 
Scotland was held in an icy grip and worse political 
storms were sweeping through the country, little 
Mary was born in the old castle of Linlithgow. All 
the country, as well as her dying father, the king of 
Scotland, was disappointed that she was not a boy. 
Only her mother, Mary of Lorraine, a princess of 
the family of Guise, was happy over the beautiful, 
laughing baby. 

When the tiny baby was only a few hours old her 
father. King James V, died, and Mary became queen. 
It was reported throughout the kingdom that the 
little queen was sickly and likely to die, but her 
devoted nurse, Janet Sinclair, readily denied all such 
reports, for Mary was as healthy and lively as any 
child could be. No Scottish mother ever saw a fairer 
and sweeter baby and she was always smiling. 

Court advisers thought it would be better to have 
Mary removed to Stirling Castle where she could 
be securely guarded, for in the land there were some 
who did not want the tiny child for their queen. So 
the sunniest and warmest room in the castle over¬ 
looking a beautiful lake was given to Mary. Here 
she grew and thrived, happy and carefree as any 
child. And here nine months later the baby was 
dressed in queenly robes, carried in state by lord- 
keepers and nobles to the church across the road, and 
solemnly crowned. 


198 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


Invading Englishmen laid waste to Mary’s king¬ 
dom and ever the affairs of the country grew worse. 
Men quarreled and fought over who should be 
Mary’s future husband, while she grew and ex¬ 
panded like a rose, growing more lovely day by day. 
Four other little Marys were her playmates and to¬ 
gether they had the delightful times of all children. 
Nothing troubled them and they were as gay and 
merry as any children could be. 

War was drawing nearer and it was deemed safer 
for Mary to leave Stirling Castle for a time, so she 
was taken for refuge to the priory of Inchmahome, a 
little island in the Lake of Menteith. Mary was 
only five years old at this time but could speak 
French as well as English and was already learn¬ 
ing history, geography and Latin. She was also 
quite an expert needlewoman and liked to embroider. 

Meanwhile Mary’s mother was anxiously ponder¬ 
ing what would be best to do. She was a French¬ 
woman and ever since coming to Scotland had 
yearned to go back to her childhood home; and she 
decided that it would be the best thing for her and 
her daughter to do. After days of tossing around 
in the ship the Stuart family landed on the coast 
of Brittany and were taken to the Castle of St. Ger¬ 
main. The little princes and princess welcomed 
Mary gayly, and she saw for the first time the 
Dauphin, who was later to be her husband. Soon 
the two became very good friends, and being about 
the same age studied and played together. Mary was 
also sent to a convent for a time. 

When Mary was fifteen years old she was mar- 


MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS 


199 


ried to the prince who afterward became King 
Francis II and the young queen’s happy life seemed 
to have ended, for far too soon she knew tragic 
grief and sadness. In December, 1560, just seven¬ 
teen months after his accession to the throne Mary’s 
husband died, and in August of the next year Mary 
returned to Scotland. She did not like to leave 
France, for she had grown to like it very much. 

Mary’s calamities started with her second mar¬ 
riage to her cousin, Henry Stuart, called Lord Darn- 
ley, on the twenty-ninth of July, 1565. He was a 
Roman Catholic and immediately after the marriage 
the Earl of Moray and other of the Protestant lords 
joined together against the new order of affairs and 
determined to drive Queen Mary and her husband 
out. The lords themselves were forced to take refuge 
in England, but from that time Mary’s great popu¬ 
larity began to decline. 

Besides these troubles her husband proved to be 
weak and worthless and the young queen scarcely 
knew what to do. Try as she would she lost all re¬ 
spect and affection toward her husband and could 
not help but admire David Rizzio, an Italian court¬ 
ier. Darnley, mad with jealousy, had Rizzio dragged 
from the supper room in Mary’s presence and mur¬ 
dered. 

After the birth of a son, who later became James 
VI of Scotland and James I of England, the queen 
and her husband became partly reconciled. At the 
close of the same year Darnley withdrew from court. 
Meanwhile Mary had grown very fond of James 
Hepburn, the Earl of Bothwell. While on a visit to 


200 DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 

his father in Glasgow, Darnley fell ill. Mary visited 
him and another reconciliation took place and the 
queen insisted that her husband should be removed 
to Edinburgh. He was taken to a house close to the 
city wall and Mary cared for him herself, but dur¬ 
ing her absence at a masque the house was blown 
up by gunpowder and Darnley was found with 
marks of violence on his body. Bothwell was accused 
of the crime and the queen was suspected. Sus¬ 
picion grew all the stronger when she was carried 
off by Bothwell to the Castle of Dunbar and married 
him on the fifteenth of May, three months later. 

At this the Scots revolted and Bothwell fled to 
Dunbar, later to the Orkney Islands and Anally to 
Denmark. The confederates first took Queen Mary 
to Edinburgh and then to Lochleven Castle where 
she was placed in the custody of Lady Douglas, 
mother of Lord Moray. A few days later eight let¬ 
ters and some poetry of the queen’s were found, 
and were held to prove her guilt. On the twenty- 
fourth of June she was forced to sign a document 
giving the crown of Scotland to her infant son, and 
appointing the Earl of Moray regent during the 
boy’s minority. 

After spending about a year in prison Mary suc¬ 
ceeded in escaping and assisted by some friends she 
made an effort to recover her power. But her forces 
were defeated by the regent’s forces in the battle of 
Langside on the thirteenth of May, 1568, and she 
fled to England. She wrote to her cousin. Queen 
Elizabeth, begging for protection, but Elizabeth 
probably saw in Mary a possible aspirant to the Eng- 


MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS 


201 


lish throne and refused to do anything for her till 
she had cleared herself from the charges made 
against her. 

So for eighteen or nineteen years Mary was the 
prisoner of her cousin, and in that time her prisons 
were frequently changed. At last she was confined 
at Fotheringay Castle in Northamptonshire. She 
was accused of being in a plot with Babington 
against Elizabeth’s life and was tried by court and 
condemned to die on the twenty-fifth of October, 

1586. 

There followed a long delay in which the queen 
refused to sign the warrant for her cousin’s death, 
but it was finally done on the first of February, 

1587. Mary received the news very calmly, and died 
just as serenely seven days later. 




MARIA MITCHELL 

B orn of only ordinary capacity, but of extra¬ 
ordinary persistency,” so said Maria Mitche.ll 
of herself in later years when someone remarked on 
her wonderful ability and great strength of purpose. 
Although so unassuming and simple in commenting 
upon her own mental attainments Miss Mitchell’s 
name is listed among the foremost of famous women 
of all time. 

Maria was born the first of August, 1818, on the 
quiet, picturesque island of Nantucket. The Mitchells 
were Quakers. The father taught school for many 
years and had a great taste for astronomy, carrying 
on independent observations for years. There were 
two older children to play with little Maria and by 
and by other sisters and brothers came until there 
were ten children in the family. 

202 


MARIA MITCHELL 


203 


All the children possessed different personalities, 
but every one of them was brought up to be honest 
and simple. From the very first Maria was lively and 
active, and her dark eyes glowed with vim and en¬ 
ergy, lighting up her dark-skinned face with won¬ 
derful effectiveness. 

Even before Maria started to school she liked to 
look through her father’s excellent telescope and 
study the heavens, especially the stars. She and her 
brothers and sisters often wondered about the 
heavens; while their father would answer their 
numerous questions, so full of mystery to them, in 
the best way that he could with perfect ease, ever 
trying to get his children more and more interested 
in astronomy. 

‘‘It is the most wonderful thing on earth,” he told 
his children, “to be able to know the stars, and it 
would be still more wonderful to find a new star 
no one had ever seen before.” 

From that time on the little Maria kept thinking 
of what her father had said. Again and again she 
wished that she might be able to find a marvelous 
comet, more brilliant and wonderful than any of 
the stars she saw in the sky. 

Many boys and girls would think it was delightful 
to be taught by their fathers, but Maria knew that 
her parent was as strict a taskmaster as any teacher 
they could have employed. All of the little Mitchells 
went to their father’s school and had to work as 
hard, or harder than any of the other pupils. But 
their father admitted that they were among the very 
best pupils. Maria was quick and intelligent and 


204 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


her father and mother were always glad to help her 
and the other children outside of school hours. 

Thus Maria’s education progressed and she re¬ 
ceived the very best and most suitable education 
possible. The atmosphere of her home helped to 
give her a culture few girls of her age then possessed. 
No matter how busy she was with her school work 
she always managed to spend some time with her 
father, observing the stars through the telescope and 
talking about them. As she learned more and more 
astronomy from her father her zeal for it grew and 
the wonderful mysteries of the heavens tantalized 
and lured her on to new and deeper studies. Maria 
was never idle and so the days of her childhood and 
early young girlhood passed in quiet happiness. 

When Maria was sixteen years old she left school, 
but she kept on reading and studying whenever she 
had time, and many a spare minute was spent in 
some pretty place on the island in deep study. When 
Maria was eighteen years old she accepted a posi¬ 
tion as librarian of the Nantucket library, and was 
very happy to browse among the books. She had 
plenty of leisure time to devote to reading and study¬ 
ing. Long hours were used in observation, and she 
became more deeply interested than ever in science. 
Older people thought it was very queer for such a 
young girl to be interested in anything which seemed 
so dilRcult and unattractive. By this time Maria 
had learned all the astronomy that her father could 
teach her, besides having studied many books; and 
still she was not satisfied with her knowledge. 

Half past ten o’clock on the first of October, 1847, 


MARIA MITCHELL 


205 


when the pretty island of Nantucket wrapped in its 
autumn brightness lay peacefully about the Mitchell 
home, Maria gazed through the beloved telescope 
with her usual quietness. Suddenly she gave a gasp 
for she thought she had seen a new comet. As she 
later said ^‘an unknown comet, nearly vertical about 
Polaris, about five degrees.'' She trembled all over 
and was sure that she had not seen aright, for surely 
her eyes were deceiving her. Then she took another 
look, and still another, and closing her eyes she took 
still a third, and always saw the same comet. 

^^Surely, oh surely it can't be true," she gasped. 
Carefully she took the right ascension and declina¬ 
tion, the measurement of the stars, and rushed to 
tell her father. That discovery first made Maria's 
name known, not only in this country, but through¬ 
out the world, and she was greeted as a remarkable 
astronomer. 

About fifteen years before, the king of Denmark 
had offered a gold medal and twenty ducats to the 
person who first discovered a new comet. The award 
was given to Miss Mitchell. For the succeeding ten 
years Maria kept her position in the library and 
studied harder then ever. There were so many 
fascinating and mysterious things still to learn 
about the stars. During this time she also assisted 
in compiling the American Nautical Almanac. 

In 1857 Maria went abroad and visited the most 
famous observatories in Europe. This trip gave her 
untold joy. Ever and ever more wonderful the 
heavens appeared to the eager, intelligent girl, and 
she yearned more than ever to be able to understand 


206 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


their mysterious allure. Everywhere she went she 
was received with honor and distinction and made 
the acquaintance of many of the leading astrono¬ 
mers, whose talks she enjoyed immensely. 

She was also elected a member of several impor¬ 
tant scientific societies, though often in the midst 
of the greatest acclaim she remembered the little 
child she had been with the great thirst to know the 
stars. Again and again she wondered if she were 
any nearer to the stars than she was in those days 
when in her ignorance she thought her adored father 
knew all there was to know about astronomy. 

Upon her return to this country Miss Mitchell was 
agreeably surprised to find that her friends had 
erected for her, during her absence abroad, an ex¬ 
cellent observatory in which she continued her as¬ 
tronomical studies until 1865. In 1860, shortly after 
her return home, her mother died, and desiring to 
be nearer Boston the family removed to Lynn where 
she bought a house for $1,650. 

In 1865 Maria was invited to become Professor 
of Astronomy at Vassar College, a position she ac¬ 
cepted, and became an excellent teacher. How she 
delighted in telling her pupils about the magic 
things she herself had discovered about the stars. 
Besides her constant and successful teaching she 
wrote several essays and many scientific papers, 
which still remain uncollected. 

Miss Mitchell was a woman of liberal and en¬ 
lightened opinions upon religious and social affairs, 
and gave much of her strength, time, and ability to 
further the advancement of her ideals. Her quiet 


MARIA MITCHELL 


207 


influence upon the pupils she taught and the people 
she was constantly meeting was profound and beau¬ 
tiful.^ Even Maria’s active body had to stop at last 
and in the morning of the twenty-eighth of June, 
1889, she died at Lynn, leaving behind her in the 
hearts of the people who knew her one of the most 
beautiful and gentle memories ever left by anyone. 



LUCRETIA MOTT 

N O one ever lived ■with a bigger and more sym¬ 
pathetic heart than that of Lucretia Coffin 
Mott, who is known among women even as Abra¬ 
ham Lincoln is known among famous men, as the 
friend of the negro. It was because of her loving 
work in behalf of these people that they began to 
call her “The Black Man’s Goddess of Liberty.” 

Off the coast of Massachusetts is a snug, pretty 
little island known as Nantucket, and it was here 
that the Coffins lived and that Lucretia was born 
on the third of January, 1793. The pleasant, com¬ 
fortable home in which Lucretia was born is still 
standing on Fair and School Streets and doubtless 
one day will be a world shrine. 

Lucretia’s father was a captain and took many 
long and adventurous voyages, mostly to China, so 

208 


LUCRETIA MOTT 


209 


his children saw him only at long intervals. Mrs. 
Coffin was a gentle, sensible woman and kept a little 
shop in one room of the house in which they lived in 
which she sold things brought by her husband from 
across the seas. The Coffins were Quakers, and Lu- 
cretia and her sisters and brothers were brought up 
in that faith and given the kind, strict training that 
the Friends gave to their children. 

Lucretia grew into a merry-eyed, dark-haired 
child whom everyone was ready to trust with er¬ 
rands or anything else. Everyone loved the gentle- 
voiced little girl and her older sister, Eliza, and they 
had many a pleasant time playing on the island. 
When their mother went to the mainland for sup¬ 
plies she left the two little girls in charge of the 
younger children, and they always did their duties 
faithfully. How all the children waited and watched 
for the sails of vessels, and how eagerly did the little 
Coffins look forward to the coming home of their 
father. 

When Lucretia was twelve years old her father 
decided to give up traveling the stormy seas and so 
the family went to Boston to live, where Mr. Coffin 
started in business. Lucretia and her sisters regret¬ 
ted leaving the island, but the little girl was very 
anxious to get an education, and the children were 
sent almost immediately to a private school. Al¬ 
though Lucretia liked to study she also liked to meet 
people, and the private school seemed rather a stupid 
place, so she was delighted when a short time later 
they were all sent to a public school. 

In after life Lucretia often thought of the happy 


14 


210 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


change and of the effect it had on her at that time. 
Even though she had a quick temper and would 
often get into arguments with the other pupils, 
Lucretia made many friends. So well did she study 
that she soon caught up with the pupils of her age, 
and in a short time had left them behind, and so 
when she was only fifteen years old she was made 
an assistant teacher in one of the boarding schools 
she had attended. 

Although her teaching duties kept Lucretia very 
busy she was still anxious to keep up with her own 
studies, so she enrolled in a French class taught by 
James Mott, another youthful teacher. Lucretia 
kept up her teaching duties till she was twenty-five 
years old, when she and Mr. Mott were married and 
went to Philadelphia to live. Here James went into 
business, while Lucretia opened up a school in order 
to help him as well as to gain more knowledge for 
herself. Later on, when her husband became more 
prosperous, she gave up her school and devoted her 
time to other interests, but no matter how busy she 
was she always found time for some study, even 
though she had to hold one of her babies on her lap 
while doing so. 

In 1818 Lucretia was often heard speaking at 
Quaker meetings, and it was at these gatherings 
that she learned that she could speak and make peo¬ 
ple pay attention to what she was saying. Soon she 
became one of the leaders in the Society of Friends 
and was noted for her eloquence of speech. One day 
she gave a prayer that was so full of appeal that 
Lucretia’s friends urged her to take up speaking. 


LUCRETIA MOTT 


211 


In 1833 she organized an anti-slavery society, for 
all of her life she had been interested in the negroes; 
and various incidents and tales that had come to her 
had awakened her deepest sympathy. At that time 
it took great courage and strength to oppose slavery, 
but Lucretia had them, and though often her old 
friends met her on the street and passed without 
speaking she had the courage to follow the dictates 
of her own heart. 

In 1840 Mrs. Mott went to London to attend the 
World Convention, and there she heard many prom¬ 
inent people speak on reform work; and she decided 
that she must work even harder for the freedom of 
the slaves. At this convention there was asked the 
question whether women had the same rights as men, 
which puzzled Mrs. Mott gravely for a time. Later 
this resulted in the establishment of the Woman’s 
Rights Movement, in which she was a great leader. 
Every society and organization for the reform or 
betterment of people wanted Mrs. Mott as a leader 
or helper, and so she was kept very active in this 
kind of work. 

All fugitive slaves knew that the Mott home was 
a kindly refuge, and many a runaway slave was 
helped by this family to gain the‘ borders of Canada 
through the “Underground Railroad.” Through mis¬ 
fortunes Mr. Mott lost most of his business, and once 
again the courageous Lucretia opened up a school, 
and was the same kind, understanding teacher she 
had been before. 

So Mrs. Mott continued giving of her best services, 
sacrificing herself because of her love for justice and 


212 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


her understanding sympathy until her death in 
1880. Over her casket some one said pleadingly, 
“Will no one say anything?” Another voice answered 
sadly, “Who can speak? The preacher is dead.” No 
one has left a more beautiful and loving memory 
behind than has this gentle Quakeress, and the 
negroes have erected several handsome monuments 
and statues in her honor. But the greatest memory 
of her still lives in their thankful hearts. 


F 



FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE 

A Lady with a Lamp shall stand 
In the great history of the land, 

A noble type of good Heroic womanhood. 

Longfellow. 

T hus wrote one of our American poets in his 
beautiful poem, “Santa Filomena,” which is a 
tribute to Florence Nightingale, one of the most un¬ 
selfish and noblest women who ever lived. Miss 
Nightingale was known as the “Lady with the 
Lamp,” and also as the “Angel of the Crimea,” and 
“Santa Filomena,” names all given her by the de¬ 
voted sufferers, whom she helped by her gentle 
service. 

Florence Nightingale was born May the twelfth, 
1820, in Florence, Italy, and was given the name of 
the wonderful city of her birth. Her father was a 
213 


214 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


rich English squire, and she had one elder sister, 
Frances. Their childhood was sheltered and happy, 
and the small girls had opportunities and happy 
times that many other girls do not have. When 
Florence was still a child her parents went to Derby¬ 
shire, England, to live. Here she received most of 
her education. Their parents believed in giving 
Florence and her sister the best education, and the 
two girls were given a classical training far in ad¬ 
vance of that which most women obtained in those 
days. Both of the girls attended private schools, and 
were attentive students. 

Even while still a child Florence was happiest 
when she was nursing some sick animal, broken doll, 
or ailing child. Long before she grew into woman¬ 
hood she would travel many miles to visit the sick 
or infirm. While still in her teens she was known 
for her skill and kindness in the sick rooms through¬ 
out Derbyshire. 

Florence Nightingale^s social position was such 
that she could have spent her time in social life, and 
be nothing but a ^^butterfiy.^^ But she scorned such 
a life, and refused to consider marriage, or any other 
career except nursing. While still in her twenties 
she traveled through Ireland, England, and Scot¬ 
land, making a study of the hospitals and their con¬ 
ditions. She met many distinguished persons on 
these trips, and was presented at several courts. 
Her sister married Lord Verney. 

In order to prepare herself more thoroughly for 
her chosen profession. Miss Nightingale urged her 
father to let her attend the Protestant Sisters’ of 


FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE 


215 


Mercy school at Kaiserwerth, Germany, which was 
the most advanced school of nursing in those days. 
After finishing the course in that institution she 
went to Paris to study. 

On her return to England Miss Nightingale 
showed so much executive ability in the hospitals in 
carrying out the things she had been taught, that she 
was at once recognized as a genius. Hitherto all the 
nursing in the hospitals had been done by untrained 
women, but with Miss Nightingale^s coming the 
deplorable conditions changed soon. Many persons 
wondered why a woman of her education and refine¬ 
ment would undertake such a work, but her heart 
was in it. She became the most popular woman in 
England, and Queen Victoria became her intimate 
friend. King Edward, who had been one of Miss 
Nightingale’s childhood friends, and his wife. Queen 
Alexandra, were frequent callers. 

In 1854 tales of the severe suffering of the Brit¬ 
ish soldiers in the Crimea came to England. The 
news was rigidly suppressed, but enough became 
known to impress the more sympathetic women with 
the terrible conditions in that far away country. 
Miss Nightingale at once wrote to the British secre¬ 
tary of war, offering her services as a nurse, and 
was accepted. 

On October the twenty-fourth, 1854, at the head 
of thirty-seven trained assistants Miss Nightingale 
left London, arriving in Scutari just in time to be 
of service to the great number of wounded after the 
Battle of Balaklava. The gentle woman had never 
seen such confusion and suffering; most of the sur- 


216 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


geons were dying or dead; there were no medicines, 
beds or cots, not even clean bandages for the wound¬ 
ed. Undaunted, the brave nurse began an inspec¬ 
tion, and with her boundless resources and enthu¬ 
siasm soon had everything in better condition. 

It was not long before Miss Nightingale was given 
entire charge of the hospital services of the British 
troops, as well as in the field. She worked so unceas¬ 
ingly that she was prostrated, and never again re¬ 
gained her health, being an invalid for forty-five 
years. After the Battle of Inkerman there were 
18,000 wounded soldiers. They were brought to a 
hospital that was filthy and unsanitary, where they 
lay uncared for, hungry and discouraged, until Miss 
Nightingale came. So great was her ability that 
after her supervision of the hospital the death rate 
dropped from forty-two per cent to two per cent. It 
was Miss Nightingale’s practice every night to make 
a complete inspection of the hospital camps, carry¬ 
ing a lamp. As she passed, the greater part of the 
soldiers, in gratefulness, threw kisses at her shadow 
on the wall. Longfellow has beautifully described 
her passage through the hospitals in these lines: 

A lady with a lamp I see, 

Pass through the glimmering gloom 
And flit from room to room, 

And slow, as in a dream of bliss. 

The speechless sufferer turns to kiss 
Her shadow, as it falls 
Upon the darkening walls. 

A British man-of-war was sent to bring Miss 
Nightingale home from the war zones, and a great 


FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE 


217 


reception was to be given for her at London. Hear¬ 
ing of the reception that they were preparing for 
her homecoming, the courageous woman slipped 
from the British vessel onto a French ship, and 
landed unnoticed. The grateful English people 
raised a fund of $150,000 for her, but despite her 
real need of money Miss Nightingale refused to take 
it for her personal use. With this fund she founded 
the Nightingale Home for Nurses at Saint Thomas 
Hospital in London. 

Though confined much of the time to her room. 
Miss Nightingale continued to supervise the hospital 
conditions of Great Britain and other European 
countries. She was officially consulted in regard to 
conditions in the Civil War, the Franco-Prussian 
War and the Spanish-American War. Her spare mo¬ 
ments she devoted to writing numerous articles and 
books about her work. 

The noble woman died in London on August the 
fourteenth, 1910. According to her own wishes she 
was buried in the graveyard of St. Paul’s Church. 



OUIDA, or LOUISE DE LA RAMEE 

T he name of Ouida is familiar to nearly every 
school girl, and is a loved one among young 
people as well as children, but if the author’s true 
name is mentioned it is scarcely ever recognized. 
Yet the quaint name of “Ouida” grew out of Louise, 
for that was the nearest that the little girl could 
come to pronouncing her own name. 

The early details of Louise’s life are hidden in 
mystery, and if she had had her way all of her later 
life would have been the same. Louise was born 
sometime in 1839 at Bury St. Edmunds, in London, 
and grew up in Paris. Although Louise was rather 
shy and timid she was always fond of society and 
the gay Parisian life held a great attraction for the 
wistful, dreamy child. Louise was the darling of her 
father’s heart and his constant companion. Although 

218 


OUIDA 


219 


the father was a bright, intelligent man, he was pas¬ 
sionately fond of gambling. As soon as Louise could 
toddle she often went with him, and it was soon dis¬ 
covered that she had inherited this trait from her 
parent. 

Louise was brought up in rather a careless fash¬ 
ion, although love and tender care was never want¬ 
ing, There was nothing that Louise liked to do bet¬ 
ter than to write down the thoughts that ran 
through her active little brain in such a turmoil. 
Although Louise liked social life she was also pas¬ 
sionately fond of reading, and in stories found much 
of the life that she longed for so ardently. 

Early in the sixties, Louise and her mother went 
to London to live, and at first the city seemed cold 
and strange to the warm-hearted young girl, but by 
and by she became very fond of it. London was so 
large, so full of life, and it seemed to give her a bet¬ 
ter chance to study the animals, especially dogs, 
that she loved so passionately. Here, too, she met 
the guardsmen in their flashing costumes, and they 
later took an important’ place in her writings. By 
this time Louise had written some fiction which 
showed decided talent, and one of her earliest stories 
had men from the army as heroes. 

Louise and her mother had hardly become settled 
in their modest lodgings when the young girl began 
to write prolifically and brilliantly. Even at this 
time her stories revealed a gift of picturesque de¬ 
scription and strong dramatic sense, though at times 
they were over-sentimental. During these years 
Louise published in quick succession many of her 


220 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


stories, the first being “Held in Bondage,” appear¬ 
ing in the London New Monthly Magazine in 1863. 
Then followed “Strathmore,” “Chandos” and “Un¬ 
der Two Flags” and by this time the young author 
had become famous as well as wealthy. 

Louise and her mother went to the Langham 
Hotel, where they entertained brilliantly, living in 
the midst of the greatest splendor, for having been 
comparatively poor neither of them knew what it 
was to have a great amount of money. Here the 
greatest literary people of England came to call upon 
Louise, as did the guardsmen in their flaming red 
coats, who were as much the heroes of Louise’s heart 
as they were of her books, and she doubtless pre¬ 
ferred their admiration to that of the literary folk. 

Louise had introduced a peculiar kind of art, dif¬ 
fering greatly from the English fiction then appear¬ 
ing, and yet so simple and whole-souled that it ap¬ 
pealed to the people. Her books sold by the millions, 
and Louise grew ever gayer and more of a social 
butterfly. 

When her books were most in demand and Louise 
was at the highest point of her career she and her 
mother went to Florence to live. Florence was 
Louise’s delight and the swirl of life in the beautiful 
city took a great hold upon her and carried her away 
on its wings. One can still hear stories of the 
Ramees’ terrible extravagance while living in Flor¬ 
ence. 

However, she was not too absorbed to discontinue 
writing. She produced several children’s books 
among which were “A Child of Urbino,” “Moufflon” 


OUIDA 


221 


and Dog of Flanders/^ all of which have since 
become classics. 

Amid such a life it is scarcely any wonder that 
Louise’s work began to break down. She no longer 
put the same passionate feelings and work into her 
writing that she had done. All of her finer emotions 
were dulled and blunted, and the gaieties of society 
like gaunt ghosts kept urging her to plunge deeper 
and deeper. Even Louise’s style of writing seemed 
to change, and ''In Winter City” and "Moths” she 
lost all of her beauty of presentation shown so deep¬ 
ly in her other books. 

It was while in Florence that Louise met an 
Italian gentleman, with whom she speedily fell deep¬ 
ly in love. With all the passion of her boundless 
emotion during this time she could think of nothing 
else. The affair proved to be very unfortunate. 
Broken-hearted, Louise plunged into countless fresh 
extravagances to try and throw off the terrible de¬ 
pression which seized her. 

She could not write as she did in her early years, 
try as she would, and when she did write something 
it would not sell, and ever the money she had earned 
grew less and less. Never did anyone plunge so ab¬ 
jectly from riches to poverty as did Louise, and 
toward the last of her life only friendly contribu¬ 
tions kept her from starvation. 

At last Louise passed away on the twenty-fifth of 
January, 1908, in her Italian home. 



' (^/stuxx/ct 3^ji£^ 


ELIZABETH STUART PHELPS 

F ew writers have written more delightful and 
interesting stories than has Elizabeth Stuart 
Phelps. All her stories have interesting plots, and 
she was a conscientious and clear writer. Each word 
was carefully selected, chosen to express her exact 
meaning, and fitted to another word as skillfully as 
an artist mixes his colors. 

Elizabeth Phelps was born August 31, 1844, in 
the renowned city of Boston. She was the daughter 
of Austin Phelps, who was a famous minister, and 
became professor of Homiletics in the Theological 
Seminary of Andover, Massachusetts, when Eliza¬ 
beth was four years old. Her grandfather, Moses 
Stuart, was another distinguished professor in the 
same theological seminary, so perhaps it was but 
natural that the small girl should become interested 


222 


ELIZABETH STUART PHELPS 223 

in religion and literature at an early age. And in¬ 
stead of romping about, as so many children do, she 
took books from her father’s library, and read them, 
pondering deeply over the things she failed to un¬ 
derstand. 

The Phelps believed in giving their daughter ev¬ 
ery chance for an education, and Elizabeth was sent 
to the best private schools, and also taught by her 
father. He saw that no branch of her education was 
neglected, and his strong, gentle influence did much 
to help her grow into the noble, beautiful woman 
she was in after life. 

Her father carefully developed her mind, discuss¬ 
ing with her many subjects that comparatively few 
girls of her age would be able to understand. She 
began writing stories, while still a child, and her 
father took a keen interest in her talent, encouraging 
her to develop it and criticising her work whenever 
he saw ways of improving it. She was her father’s 
constant companion and imbibed many of his 
thoughts and ideas. 

When she finished her school education Miss 
Phelps devoted her time to mission work in a factory 
settlement near her home. Here she came into con¬ 
tact with all kinds of persons, and incidents, which 
she later vividly described in her books. Her noble 
character and influence helped many, and she was 
regarded by many as a saint. 

She wrote several well-known juvenile books and 
sketches. Her “Trotty” and “Gypsy” stories for chil¬ 
dren were widely read, and are still loved by juvenile 
readers. But it is for her novels that she is best 


224 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


known. Among the first of her work to be published 
was a sketch entitled “The Tenth of January,” giv¬ 
ing a romantic and vivid description of a terrible 
accident happening when the Pemberton Mills fell 
at Lawrence, Massachusetts. 

“A Sacrifice Consumed,” a war story, was printed 
in Harper’s Magazine in 1864, and made Miss 
Phelps known in her own State as a popular writer. 
Afterward she was a frequent contributor to this 
magazine, but she gained her real fame with the 
publication of “Gates Ajar” in 1898. This is prob¬ 
ably her best and most popular book. The story is 
very touching and fanciful, centered about life after 
death, and at the time of its publication, as well as 
afterward, received much adverse criticism. It has 
been translated in French, German, Dutch, and Ital¬ 
ian, and is usually found in every religious library. 

Miss Phelps wrote other books, the best known 
among these being “The Gates Between” and “Be- 
yound the Gates,” which are sequels of the “Gates 
Ajar,” and continue the discussion of life after 
death. These books contain beautiful thoughts, de¬ 
scriptions and fancies. Among her other books are 
“A Singular Life,” “A Silent Partner,” “Jack the 
Fisherman,” “Story of Avis,” “Dr. Zay” and “A 
Madonna of the Tubs,” many of these being written 
while Miss Phelps was still a young woman. 

In 1888, Miss Phelps, then a mature woman of 
forty-four, was married to Herbert Ward, who was 
also interested in literature. Together they wrote 
several books, the most popular being, “Mates of the 
Magicians,” “Come Forth,” and “The Lost Hero.” 


ELIZABETH STUART PHELPS 


225 


Aside from these volumes Mrs. Ward is known to the 
literary world by her maiden name. 

Content in the belief that her life had not been 
lived entirely in vain, and faithfully believing in a 
life after death, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward died 
in 1911. 



15 



MOLLY PITCHER 

M olly pitcher is a name familiar to every 
student of history, yet strangely enough very 
little is known about the life of this courageous 
woman, and some there are who doubt that such a 
woman ever lived. Few persons have been known 
by more names than Molly Pitcher. 

Molly Pitcher was really never Molly’s right 
name, but it is by this queer name that she is best 
known in history. When the tiny blue-eyed baby was 
born she was christened Mary Lud-wig, and it was 
by this name she was known all through her child¬ 
hood and young womanhood. 

For years and years, after Molly’s death, it was 
believed that she was of Irish parentage and a true 
Irish maiden herself, but her granddaughter, Polly 
McCleester, declared vehemently that her grand- 

226 


MOLLY PITCHER 


227 


mother ^ Vas as Dutch as sauerkraut/^ So those who 
have been fancying her as a little Irish girl will have 
to picture anew a laughing, gay-hearted, active, little 
Dutch girl. 

Molly liked her pretty home snuggled amidst the 
New Jersey hills and here she grew up. She liked 
to go to school and tried always to get her lessons, 
but best of all she liked to study history and read 
about the daring things that men had accomplished. 
Sometimes she wondered why the names of no women 
were ever mentioned in history and dreamed about 
the brave things that she would like to do if she ever 
had a chance. As Molly grew older she heard her 
father and others talking about the grave things that 
were troubling the colonists. Molly could not under¬ 
stand what many of these things meant when she 
first heard them, but in later years she too joined 
in these discussions. 

When Molly was sixteen years old her parents 
went to Carlisle, Pennsylvania, to live, and as they 
were very poor the young girl searched for work 
that she could do. At last she found a place where 
they wanted a ^^hired girl,’^ and she began her new 
task with great earnestness, determined to do the 
very best that she could. Molly was that kind of girl. 
She was not afraid of work or anything that was 
right, and her heart was full of patriotic loyalty for 
her country, as were the hearts of so many of her 
countrymen at this time. 

Molly soon learned to like the beautiful Pennsyl¬ 
vania town with its quaint buildings and customs 
quite as well as her old home in New Jersey. Sev- 


228 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


eral happy years passed. Molly was so busy and so 
happy in doing her work well that she never 
seemed troubled about how hard it was or about 
the things she missed that wealthier girls had. Then 
one day she met John Hayes, a very good looking 
young man working in a barber shop in the same 
block where Molly was employed. Somehow his 
bright smile seemed to captivate the dreamy heart 
of Molly and by and by the two were married. 

The Hayes had hardly time to plan for a home 
when the Revolutionary War began, and on the first 
of December, 1775, Molly’s John enlisted as a gun¬ 
ner in Proctor’s Artillery. He was just as loyal a 
patriot as was Molly and after talking it over to¬ 
gether both decided that was the only thing he could 
do, much as they regretted to part. “Don’t worry, 
dear Molly,” he comforted as he left, “I’ll be back 
soon.” With a bright smile and a gay wave of her 
hand Molly parted with him, watching his handsome 
form as far as she could see. The days of the war 
went by and turned into years, and though Molly’s 
heart grew sadder she never repented that her hus¬ 
band had gone to the war of his own free will, and 
she kept so busy herself that she had little time for 
sorrow. In January, 1777, young Hayes reenlisted 
as a private in an infantry regiment commanded 
by Colonel William Irvin, who later became a gen¬ 
eral. 

Hayes was one of the members of the regiment 
that spent that dreadful winter of 1777-78 with 
Washington at Valley Forge. Here the gallant 
young man suffered with the rest, only many of them 


MOLLY PITCHER 


229 


had no letters and no little gifts from home. Hayes, 
on the other hand, was always being remembered by 
his loving Molly, and thoughts of her made the ter¬ 
rible hunger and cold easier to bear. 

In the springtime the army marched out and 
Hayes was as ready as any of the soldiers to fight 
when the opportunity came. During these hard days 
for the young soldier Molly had a hard time, too. She 
had been forced to return to her old home in New 
Jersey. After the winter passed, Molly, as so many 
other wives of soldiers did at that time, joined her 
husband in the army and helped with the cooking, 
washing and other work. Her bright spirit was a 
real inspiration to all the soldiers. 

The twenty-eighth day of June, 1778, was one of 
the hottest days ever known in New Jersey, and it 
was on this day that the Battle of Monmouth, one 
of the most terrible struggles in history, was fought. 
The wild, intense excitement, the terrible heat, the 
deafening noise, and the hard work made the sol¬ 
diers very tired and thirsty and many a strong man 
fainted and even died for lack of water. 

Molly, busy with her kitchen duties, soon noticed 
how terribly hot the day was, even early in the morn¬ 
ing, and she hurriedly picked up a pitcher and went 
out to a nearby well and filled it. Soon she was rush¬ 
ing back and forth with the pitcher in her hand, and 
the soldiers cried, “Molly Pitcher, Molly Pitcher,” in 
all kinds of voices. With dauntless energy Molly 
kept hurrying back and forth with the water, then 
as she was passing near her husband, while the bul¬ 
lets spat about her and the swirling dust and smoke 


230 DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 

clouds filled the air, she was horrified to see Hayes 
fall to the ground, with hands still upraised to the 
cannon he was trying to fire. 

“Wheel back that cannon! There’s no one here 
to serve it!” cried the commander, but before the 
order could be obeyed Molly dropped her pitcher and 
cried, “I can fire it!” The sturdy young Molly knew 
how to fire a cannon as well as many a man who 
served in the army, and thereafter she fired it as 
rapidly as she could with sweat running down her 
cheeks and her hair hanging about. 

She worked as hard as any of the soldiers to win 
that battle. Afterward Molly was pleased to know 
that it was the only battle in the Revolutionary War 
in which there was a representative from each of 
the thirteen colonies. 

George Washington was greatly pleased with 
Molly’s heroic service and sent her his deepest 
thanks, having had his attention called to her dar¬ 
ing service by General Greene. Washington gave 
Molly a warrant as a sergeant in the army. Forty- 
four years after the Battle of Monmouth the legis¬ 
lature of Pennsylvania awarded her a small annuity. 

Brave young John Hayes was found to be badly 
wounded when the battle was done, but he recov¬ 
ered and he and his wife returned to Carlisle to live. 
Here a little boy came to them. Young John Ludwig 
was quite p brave as his father and mother and 
he fought in the "War of 1812. He won the same 
military title that had been given to his mother. 
But the father did not live to see his son grow into 
a young man, as he died in 1787. 


MOLLY PITCHER 


231 


Several lonely and hard years passed for Molly, 
Somehow she had not the same heart to work as she 
had before and her little son required so much of 
her attention. She missed her husband so much and 
there seemed nothing to do but wash and scrub and 
work from dawn till dark. In 1792, John McCauley, 
a friend of Hayes, persuaded Molly to marry him. 
He had been a soldier too, but he lacked the good 
qualities that Hayes had had, and he preferred to 
sleep instead of work and poor Molly had a harder 
time than ever. For ten or twelve years life went 
on like this and then Molly’s second husband died. 
Time passed on and Molly worked to support her¬ 
self and her son. Her heart grew lighter and the 
days became some brighter. Then on the twenty- 
sixth of January, 1832, Molly died in the little vil¬ 
lage in which she had lived for over forty years. 
She was buried in the cemetery at Carlisle and on 
a plain stone monument, standing on a pedestal over 
her grave, are these words: 

Mollie McCaulay 

Renowned in History as Mollie Pitcher 
The Heroine of Monmouth 
Died, January, 1832, aged 79 years. 

Erected by the Citizens of Cumberland County, 

July 4, 1876. 



' Pjyxyz^fjxTTji:^ 


POCAHONTAS 

N early every boy and girl, who has stud¬ 
ied history, is familiar with the name of Poca¬ 
hontas and knows the story of how this brave little 
Indian girl saved the life of John Smith, the white 
man. But were we to call the Indian girl by her 
rightful name, there would be few who would know 
about whom we were talking, for who would ever 
guess that Pocahontas’ real name was Mataoka? 
The name of Pocahontas, which means “tomboy” in 
the Indian language, was given to the child very 
early in life. 

Nowhere in history can we find just when or 
where the little Mataoka was born, but it was some¬ 
time in the year 1595 and somewhere along the 
232 


POCAHONTAS 


233 


James River in Virginia. She was a very lively, 
active baby, and grew into a strong, sturdy child, 
afraid of nothing and full of an adventurous and 
daring spirit. 

Her father was the famous Powhatan, chief of 
the Chickahominy tribe, and his relations and deal¬ 
ings with the white settlers brought the little girl 
into frequent contact with citizens of Jamestown, 
the newly settled Virginia colony. 

Mataoka did not act like a princess at all, and 
delighted in playing with the little boys of her tribe. 
“They play so much nicer. I like so much better to 
do what they do than what the little old squaws do,” 
she laughed. 

Soon the little girl became an excellent shot with 
the bow and arrow. Her father often said it was a 
pity that she had not been a boy. But, best of all, 
Mataoka liked to turn handsprings, and in this stunt 
she was the most graceful and quickest of all the 
children in camp. 

One cold, stormy day a group of Indians was sit¬ 
ting around a blazing fire in a log house built along 
the James River, telling stories to each other, while 
the children laughed and played. Among the noisiest 
and merriest of these was the little Mataoka. Sud¬ 
denly the curtain parted, and Rabunta, the Indian 
runner, came dashing in. 

Just at that instant Mataoka turned one of her 
surprising handsprings, and, not seeing the messen¬ 
ger, collided with him and knocked him down. The 
Indians began to roar with laughter, but Powhatan 
was amazed and very angry at his daughter’s ac- 


234 DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 

tions. “Mataoka, this is not a maiden’s play. Will 
you never cease to be a pocahontas?” he cried. The 
other children caught up the name and the other 
Indians joined in the jeering, and it was so that the 
little Mataoka was rechristened Pocahontas, a nick¬ 
name which stayed with her all the rest of her life. 

“I have news,” gasped the runner as he paused 
for breath. “The white captain is caught!” Every¬ 
body grew excited and crowded around the messen¬ 
ger, everybody but little Pocahontas. 

But even if she did not crowd up to Rabunta, she 
heard what he was saying. Her heart almost stopped 
beating when she heard how two hundred of the In¬ 
dians had hid behind trees and rocks until they saw 
the captain, and then chased him into a bog and 
made him their prisoner. The runner explained how 
at first they had intended killing the white captain, 
but then thought it would be more fun to bring him 
into the village and kill him the next day. 

Pocahontas looked proudly at her father. Surely 
he was very kind-hearted, she thought. 

The Indians began telling how the white captive 
had shot at them. “Then, he, too, must die; that 
is the Indian custom,” ordered her father; “let him 
be brought in at once.” The young braves brought 
in two great stones and placed them in front of 
Powhatan, then seized the prisoner and brought him 
before the chief and dragged his head down till it 
touched the stones. 

Pocahontas could bear no more, and, jumping for¬ 
ward, she took John Smith’s head in her arms and 
shielded him with her body. The men, not knowing 


POCAHONTAS 


235 


what to do, stopped as they were raising their axes 
to strike, and Pocahontas begged her father to spare 
the white captain’s life. ‘‘Kill! Kill!” some of the 
Indians kept yelling, but the little girl maintained 
that she was right, and her father raised his hand. 
The clamor ceased and Smith was freed. 

Capt. John Smith looked at the attractive little 
girl who had saved his life, and, reaching into his 
pocket, brought out a little trinket, and, giving it to 
her, asked her name. Now, it was the custom of the 
Chickahominy tribe not to tell any English people 
their names, so the father replied: “Pocahontas.” 

From that time the little Indian girl and the white 
man were good friends, and she became loyal and 
friendly to the Jamestown settlement. At least three 
times did she steal into Jamestown and warn them 
of Indian raids. She also told Captain Smith of a 
plan to attack him while he was bringing in pro¬ 
visions. 

In 1609 John Smith returned to England, and 
Pocahontas no longer visited Jamestown. When she 
heard that he was dead she grieved deeply, and the 
friendship between the Indians and English ceased. 

In April, 1612, a British soldier, by the name of 
Captain Argali, conceived a plan by which he hoped 
to persuade Powhatan to keep peace forever with 
the English. Pocahontas was urged to visit Chief 
Japazaw on the Potomac River, friend of the girl 
and her father. Captain Argali promised the Japa- 
zaws a wonderful copper kettle if they would help 
in his plans for kidnapping Pocahontas and holding 
her for ransom. 


236 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


As Mrs. Japazaw and the girl walked along the 
river bank they got to talking about the English 
ships lying near by, and the old lady mentioned how 
she had always wanted to go aboard one, but was 
afraid to go alone. So Pocahontas offered to accom¬ 
pany her. When they got aboard, Pocahontas was 
made a prisoner and a message was sent stating 
that they would release her if all the Englishmen, 
tools, guns, swords and other things he had taken, 
were returned by her father. For three months Chief 
Powhatan did not reply, and then he sent back only 
a few of the men and guns, so the English held 
Pocahontas longer. They were very good to her and 
she grew very fond of them. 

Among the English settlers was a young man by 
the name of John Eolfe, who learned to love the 
Indian maiden very much. They consulted Governor 
Dale about the marriage, to which he agreed, as did 
also Powhatan, and they were married early in 
April, 1614. 

Soon a little son came to them, and they called 
him Thomas. They went to Bermuda Hundred, a 
new plantation on the James River, where Eolfe 
raised tobacco. 

_ Pocahontas soon learned English and the Chris¬ 
tian religion, and it was not long before she became 
so well educated that for awhile she had no desire 
to return to her father and her people. 

In 1616 the Eolfe family started for England, 
where she was received with royal splendor and en¬ 
tertained lavishly at banquets, theaters and recep¬ 
tions, all of which were very strange to the little 


r 
























































238 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


Indian maiden. Here she was nicknamed “La Belle 
Sauvage,” as a compliment to her beauty and grace. 

So it was that, when John Smith returned from 
one of his adventurous explorations, he heard every 
one talking about Pocahontas. He at once went to 
visit her, and her joy was unbounded to find that her 
white friend was not dead after all. 

But, amid all this excitement, Pocahontas longed 
for her wilderness home; she missed her wild ways 
and the clean, pure country air. She began to look 
pale and tired. Her husband grew alarmed and 
wanted to start for America at once, but he could 
not until the ship loaded its supplies. At last the 
word came that everything was ready, and, just as 
they were helping Pocahontas aboard, a greater 
weakness overcame her and in a short time she died. 
She was buried in the church graveyard at Grave¬ 
send, near London, where the record of her death 
and her tomb may still be seen. 

Little Thomas was cared for and educated by an 
uncle in London and later became a merchant. Per¬ 
haps his mother’s love for her wilderness home 
prompted him later to return to Virginia, where one 
of his descendants was William H. Harrison, Presi¬ 
dent of the United States, and another was John 
Randolph, a famous Congressman of his time. 





ADELAIDE PROCTOR 

P ROBABLY no poems ever written express the 
sweetness and contentment of an author’s daily- 
life as do those of Adelaide Anne Proctor, and for 
this statement Charles Dickens was an ardent au¬ 
thority. Miss Proctor’s father, Bryan Waller Proc¬ 
tor, better known to the literary world as “Barry 
Cornwell,” a well-known and gifted writer, was an 
intimate friend of Dickens. Among Mr. Proctor’s 
other friends were Lord Byron and Sir Robert Peel, 
the eminent statesman. 

Reared in such an atmosphere of literature and 
culture Adelaide probably heard few conversations 
save those which dealt with words, their values and 
uses. So it is not surprising that she had courage to 
try anonymously her own fortune in the world 
which had welcomed her father so enthusiastically. 


239 


240 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


Bryan Waller Proctor and his gentle wife re¬ 
joiced greatly when the little Adelaide came to them 
in their London home on the thirtieth of October, 
1825. Even his friends could feel the new thrill 
and hope in the poems which the ardent young fa¬ 
ther composed after that, but the praises that he 
received for his writing did not please him half as 
much as those bestowed upon his tiny daughter. 

The Proctors thought she was the most wonderful 
baby they had ever seen, and all the neighbors re¬ 
marked upon her good nature and happy smile even 
long before she could toddle about. Everyone loved 
the little Adelaide at that time just as they did when 
she grew older, and no one has ever lived who had a 
kinder, tenderer and more understanding heart. 

Adelaide was a remarkable child, and soon proved 
to others beside her loving parents and friends, that 
she possessed a precocious ability, but even this did 
not impress her father with the idea that she had 
inherited any of his writing talent. From the very 
first the little girl showed her love for reading and 
composing, which perhaps her parents might have 
observed had they been less fond of her. 

Charles Dickens used to tell of how the little girl, 
before she herself was old enough to write, had her 
mother make a neat little album of blank pieces of 
paper on which she had her copy her favorite verses 
and which Adelaide read over and over again. In 
after life the young woman said, “No other book 
was ever quite so dear to me, and I think it was from 
those shabby pages I first learned to appreciate true 
poetry.” 


ADELAIDE PROCTOR 


241 


As Adelaide grew older she was taught the studies 
she should know; besides she was learning French, 
German, and Italian and learning to play the piano. 
Possessing a marked talent for drawing, her parents 
urged her to devote much of her time to this study. 
Even in these days Adelaide would scribble rhymes 
secretly, which when she put them beside her fa¬ 
ther’s seemed so poor and jumbled she was ashamed 
to show them to anyone. So her father never knew 
she did any writing until her first poem appeared 
in print. 

The Proctors were Roman Catholics and Adelaide 
was brought up to be a devout worshiper. Almost 
as soon as she could walk the little girl delighted in 
visiting the sick and sorrowful, teaching the igno¬ 
rant, sympathizing with the sad and helping wher¬ 
ever she could, and as she grew older her beautiful 
nature expanded. She was always busy, for there 
were so many little deeds to be done which other folk 
seemed to overlook and nothing made Adelaide hap¬ 
pier than to make others happy in her own sweet 
way. 

So the years passed and Adelaide grew in knowl¬ 
edge, and in the desire to give expression to the beau¬ 
tiful thoughts which surged in her active brain. But 
it never seemed to her that her modest ambition 
seemed worth while to confide to her talented father 
and so she clasped it to her own heart with an ever 
increasing hunger and tenderness. 

Then early in the year of 1853 Charles Dickens 
noticed among the heap of contributions on his office 
table to the Household Words, of which he was 


16 


242 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


editor, a poem bearing the signature of Mary Ber¬ 
wick. He read the poem over carefully and slowly 
and it seemed to him unusually good. He read it 
again and was impressed even more by its calm, 
deep beauty. Its very simpleness seemed to attract 
him as few things had and he read it again and 
again, and with each reading liked it better. He im¬ 
mediately wrote to the author accepting the poem 
and asking for others. For two years Miss Proctor 
continued sending her poems to this periodical and 
became a well known and popular writer. 

During the greater part of this time Charles 
Dickens greatly admired the simple rhythmical qual¬ 
ity of the poems and their touching sentiment pic¬ 
tured in such a charming manner, having no idea 
that the author was the daughter of his dear friend, 
Proctor. 

Then one day Dickens went to dine with the Proc¬ 
tors and carried with him a copy of the Household 
Words in which Adelaide’s poem “The Seven Poor 
Travelers” appeared. “A remarkable poem,” Dick¬ 
ens said referring to this poem, “and a very clever 
one. Its author must be a wonderful woman.” 
Adelaide at the opposite side of the table, blushed 
and smiled, but Dickens was too engrossed in listen¬ 
ing to the comments of Bryan Proctor to pay any 
attention to the daughter. 

Adelaide considered this too good a joke to let 
go without telling Dickens about it, so the very next 
day the talented author himself was surprised to be 
informed that Mary Berwick was Adelaide Proctor. 
Perhaps Dickens felt then that he knew very little 


ADELAIDE PROCTOR 


243 


about the inner working of his most intimate friends’ 
minds, otherwise he could have told that the beauti¬ 
ful poems he had been publishing had been born in a 
Proctor mind. 

Soon there was issued a slim little book of poems 
of Adelaide’s called “The Book of Beauty,” and in 
1862 another little volume of verse called “A Chap¬ 
let of Verses” appeared. The second book had been 
published for the benefit of the London Night 
Refuge. After the publication of these books many 
of her earlier poems appeared in various papers and 
magazines, and another book, “Legends and Lyrics” 
was also published. 

During all this time Miss Proctor never ceased 
her charitable labors and so we are not surprised 
to read that she died of overwork. Even when her 
failing health warned her to be careful of her 
strength, the tender-hearted woman kept on with 
her labors of love, until she could no longer move 
about. Then for fifteen months she lay sorely dis¬ 
tressed with pain. But never once in all those long, 
weary months did she speak one impatient word nor 
complain, for the soul that could write so happily 
could also live that way in her daily life. 

While still comparatively a young woman, hardly 
having reached the zenith of her literary success, 
and with a beautiful future before her, she died in 
her London home on the second of February, 1864. 
Her last words were uttered with the same bright 
smile wreathing her face which she wore so much 
of the time, and reflected her calm, noble spirit. “It 
has come at last!” she said. 



BETSY ROSS 

‘The simple stone of Betsy Ross 
Is covered now with mold and moss, 

But still her deathless banner flies, 

And keeps the color of the skies. 

A nation thrills, a nation bleeds, 

A nation follows where it leads.” 

T he foregoing poem was written in memory of 
Betsy Boss, the handsome, sturdy colonial wom¬ 
an who made our first fiag. No woman of Revolu¬ 
tionary times is more familiar to us than Betsy Ross, 
even though in those stirring days there lived many 
a brave and courageous woman who would dare al¬ 
most anything for her home and her country. 

Betty’s maiden name was Elizabeth Griscom. She 
was the daughter of Samuel Griscom, a Quaker, 
who helped to build Independence Hall and was a 
noted shipbuilder. Betsy was born in 1752, and her 

244 


BETSY ROSS 


246 


blue sparkling eyes seemed always happy. Even 
when she was yet a tiny baby her mother took great 
pride in her fair complexion and fluffy brown hair, 
and from a pretty baby she grew into an attractive 
child. 

In those days all the little girls were taught by 
their mothers to sew and do almost everything else 
that could be done around a house. Betsy’s little 
fingers could hardly hold a needle when she first be¬ 
gan sewing, and many a time their poor little tips 
were sore and bleeding from accidental pricks. Betsy 
liked to sew, but it was tiresome work when she 
would so much rather run outside and play or read. 

Betsy’s parents believed in bringing up their chil¬ 
dren to be honest, active and helpful and even when 
she was still going to school the little girl would often 
help a sick neighbor. With the good training that 
her Quaker parents gave her Betsy grew into a re¬ 
fined, sympathetic woman, well known throughout 
Philadelphia, the city in which she lived all of her 
life. She was always among the first to offer her 
services, and during the Revolutionary War she com¬ 
forted many a sick soldier. Those who were in need 
always spoke of Betsy as a true friend. 

When Betsy was twenty years old she married 
John Ross, son of George Ross, a signer of the Dec¬ 
laration of Independence, and a nephew of another 
signer. Ross was an upholsterer and had a shop at 
239 Arch Street, where Betsy went to live with him. 
By this time Betsy was well known throughout Phil¬ 
adelphia and New York, as well as in smaller towns, 
for her beautiful needlework. 


246 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


Her mother’s constant and patient training had 
wrought greater results than even that gentle lady 
had anticipated. A dozen or more women were em¬ 
ployed constantly in the little old-fashioned brick 
house on Arch Street, but none of them could sew 
quite as finely as Betsy herself. Here in the neat, 
comfortable little house Betsy and her husband and 
children lived for many years. Betsy was a shrewd 
business woman and she was one of the chief im¬ 
porters of velvets, silks and satins of that day, which 
with her artistic talent she created into marvelous 
designs. 

The Ross establishment grew by leaps and bounds 
and Betsy’s wonderful work and designs could be 
found in many a wealthy mansion, in the best hotels 
and halls of the time. Among her patrons were such 
noted men as George Washington and Gouverneur 
Morris. Betsy was a real artist with her scissors 
as well as with her needle and she was asked to help 
to decorate Independence Hall for the first meeting 
of the Continental Congress. 

One day in June, 1777, Betsy was busily sewing 
when she was startled by a loud knocking on the 
door. There had been many knocks on her plain 
door, but none had ever sounded quite the same to 
Betsy, and she opened it to be confronted by a group 
of men, headed by General Washington. George 
Washington explained to her that he knew she was 
an expert needlewoman and that they had come to 
her to see if she would not make a flag for the Ameri¬ 
can Army. Washington explained how they would 
like to have the flag made, stating that they pre- 


BETSY ROSS 


247 


ferred to have a six-pointed star, but Betsy did not 
agree that such a star would be very artistic. For a 
time the seamstress and the general argued back and 
forth, but at last Betsy convinced Washington that 
a five-pointed star was much more beautiful. Since 
then the story has often been told how Betsy Ross 
made stars with one snip of the scissors. 

At last Betsy finished the flag with its thirteen 
white stars on a circle of blue and its thirteen alter¬ 
nate red and white stripes, and it was so satisfactory 
that she was given a contract for all of the flags 
that they would use. It is said that the first flag 
Betsy made was unfurled on the Hall of Indepen¬ 
dence and another was draped on the spire of the 
Liberty Bell as it rang out its glad message of free¬ 
dom to the land. 

The Betsy Ross flag was officially adopted by Con¬ 
gress on the fourteenth of June, 1777, and we cele¬ 
brate Flag Day in memory of this event. Betsy and 
her helpers, including her own family, continued 
making flags for many years, and after Betsy’s 
death her daughter, Mrs. Clarissa Wilson, continued 
the work until 1856. 

Betsy was very sad for a time after her husband’s 
death in 1776, when he died from an injury received 
while guarding military stores. But there was so 
much to do that the active little woman could not 
long think of herself. Even though Betsy was a 
Quaker, and as a general rule they do not believe 
in rejoicing, still she said, '‘My voice shall be de¬ 
voted to God and my country, and whenever the 
spirit moves me. I’ll sing and shout for liberty!” 


248 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


The spirit must have often moved the gentle heart 
of Betsy for her sweet voice was frequently heard 
in song, and she liked to sing nothing better than 
the “War Song of Independence,” and vigorously 
wave a flag. By and by the sorrow over her hus¬ 
band’s death eased in Betsy’s heart and she was 
married to Captain Ashburn. He did not live very 
long, however, and sometime later Betsy was again 
married, this time to John Claypool. But it is as Bet¬ 
sy Ross that we know her. 

In 1793 a terrible epidemic of yellow fever caused 
great suffering and many deaths in this country, and 
it was during this time that the celebrated Doctor 
Benjamin Rush gave to Betsy the name of the 
“Magical Quakeress.” No one did more to relieve 
the sick and the dying than did Betsy and she was 
never too tired or too busy to heed the weakest re¬ 
quest. 

Betsy died in 1836, after a long life of loving and 
active service, and was buried in Philadelphia. The 
old house in which she lived for so many years has 
been made into a permanent memorial, and few 
things in historic old Philadelphia excite more ad¬ 
miration. 


RUTH 


E ntreat me not to leave thee or to return from 
following after thee: for whither thou goest I 
will go; and where thou lodgest will I lodge; thy peo¬ 
ple shall be my people, and thy God my God. 

“Where thou diest will I die and there will I be 
buried; the Lord do so to me, and more also, if aught 
but death part thee and me.” 

Many noble and beautiful words have been spoken 
by people of all ages, and have lived in the memory 
of men and been uttered by their lips over and over 
again in the ages which followed their passing, but 
none have been spoken more often or loved more 
than these simple powerful words of Ruth’s, the 
greatest heroine of the Bible. By these beautiful 
words of loyal decision Ruth has immortalized her¬ 
self for all time. 


249 


250 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


This book of the Old Testament is a powerfully 
exquisite narrative of Hebrew rural life “at the 
time when judges judged,” and is told in as simple 
and beautiful language as Lincoln used. The lovely 
story of Euth was written many years ago by a 
Hebrew, and is one of the finest and best written 
love stories in the world. 

Little or nothing is known of Ruth’s birth and 
early life. We can imagine she had a wise and good 
father and mother who believed in teaching their 
children obedience and faith. Ruth must have been 
a pretty child, for it is known that she grew into a 
graceful, attractive woman with a loyal, sweet per¬ 
sonality and of simple tastes. She must have been 
just such a daughter as every mother’s heart yearns 
for, and to her father she must have been more than 
all the world besides. Simply and happily did this 
family live together, and by and by Ruth married 
the son of a Hebrew family who had migrated to 
the land of Moab, where Ruth dwelt. 

Elimelech, Ruth s husband, had but one brother 
who married another simple, unselfish girl by the 
name of Orpah. Naomi, Ruth’s husband’s mother, 
was a clever woman, and it was her daughter-in- 
law’s faithfulness to her which has made Ruth the 
most popular and best loved heroine of the Bible. 

For about ten years Ruth and Orpah and their 
husbands and mother lived in happiness and peace 
together in Bethlehem-judah and then sadness came 
in their midst. First of all Elimelech became sick 
and nothing that his loving relatives could do for 
him seemed to help him. 


RUTH 


251 


Finally he died, and during the last days of his 
illness the brother sickened, and he died; and Orpah 
and the rest who loved him were also powerless to 
help him. But before his death the patient, kind 
father began to sicken and nothing the loving women 
could do would help him either, and he, too, passed 
away. 

Now there was great sadness in that once happy 
home and the hearts of Ruth, Orpah, and Naomi 
were very heavy. Even in the midst of her great 
sorrow Naomi remembered how kind her daughters- 
in-law had been to her and how they had a right to 
live their own lives hereafter. The thought of part¬ 
ing with them added to the sorrow of the mother’s 
heart. But she told the girls they had already done 
enough for her and that they should now return 
home, leaving her alone with her grief. Finally after 
much protesting Orpah went, assuring Naomi and 
Ruth of her love and loyalty. But all of Naomi’s 
pleading could not persuade Ruth to go back to her 
home. It was then that Ruth turned to her saying 
the beautiful words with which we are so familiar. 

So the two women traveled back to their native 
country of Palestine, more attached then ever. When 
they reached their old homes they were just begin¬ 
ning to harvest the barley. From the Bible we know 
that the harvesting of the grains was a very busy 
time in all Biblical countries. 

It was the custom among the people of Palestine 
at that time for widows to go to their husband’s 
brothers, or nearest of kin, and marry them, and 
when this was not possible the widows were expected 


252 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


to give a good reason. As Ruth’s husband’s only 
brother had died she could not do this. So Naomi 
took her daughter-in-law to the home of Boaz, a very 
wealthy and renowned man, and a distant relative 
of her own. 

Boaz had many great fields of grain in which the 
reapers were very busy. Ruth knew now that she 
and Naomi were dependent on her own efforts to 
support them. So she begged the rich man to allow 
her to go to the fields and garner after the reap¬ 
ers. Shortly after she started gleaning Boaz came 
to talk to Ruth and was greatly attracted by her 
sweet simpleness and her willingness to work to save 
that which others considered not worth the saving. 
The next day Boaz told his reapers to leave plenty 
of barley for Ruth to glean. 

Naomi was eager to tell Boaz of Ruth’s faithful¬ 
ness and her kindness, and she also told the gentle 
old man that it was her desire he marry her 
daughter-in-law. “Not in all the land can a better 
wife be found,” Naomi confided to Boaz, “and that 
would be the wish of my dear Elimelech.” Boaz had 
thought little of marriage and was surprised, but 
the more he saw of Ruth the more he desired to do 
what Naomi had suggested. 

But before Boaz could marry Ruth he found that 
he had to arrange with a nearer relative of the Moab 
maiden, whom he knew. So one morning Boaz stood 
beside his gate waiting eagerly for the man to pass, 
for he often passed on the road before Boaz’ dwell¬ 
ing. Soon the man came and he was pleased with 
the arrangement. He readily gave his consent to 


RUTH 


263 


Ruth marrying Boaz. So Boaz and Ruth were mar¬ 
ried and all of the land belonging to Elimelech be¬ 
came Boaz’s also. 

Ruth and Boaz were very happy, and Naomi was 
happy with them. “Never was there such a daugh¬ 
ter,” the old woman would say over and over again. 
Then to make the home brighter there came to Ruth 
and her husband a little son, named Obed, who grew 
up in time into a good and wonderful man. He mar¬ 
ried and had a son whom he called Jesse. This boy 
also grew up and married and was the father of 
David, so it came to be that the gentle, modest Ruth 
was great-grandmother of the famous King David, 
the Hebrew Psalmist, and the direct ancestor of 
Jesus. 





SACAJAWEA 

M any of us have heard and read about Lewis’ 
and Clark’s wonderful expedition through 
the northwestern states, but few there are who know 
that it was Sacajawea, the brave young Indian 
woman, who made the trip possible and successful. 

Sacajawea was born in 1790 in an Indian village 
snuggled along the bank of the Snake River some¬ 
where just west of the Bitter Root Mountains in 
what is now the state of Idaho. Her parents gave 
her the queer sweet name which in English means 
bird woman, because she looked so happy and bright. 

Here, in the midst of the wilderness, with beauty 
stretching on every side, the baby soon grew into a 
toddling child, playing with the other children in 
camp, and as she 'grew older learning the household 
arts from her mother, Sacajawea liked to wander 
254 


SACAJAWE A 


265 


through the country and in company with other In¬ 
dians would take long walks and rides, observing 
many things, so while she was still very young she 
became familiar with all the landmarks and fea¬ 
tures of the country for miles around. She belonged 
to the Shoshone or Snake Indians and was very fond 
of her tribe. 

One day when Sacajawea was in her ninth year 
the Shoshones were suddenly attacked by the Minne- 
tarees of Knife River, and some of the women and 
children ran as swiftly as they could up the river 
and hid, while the men, mounting their fastest 
horses, fled. For a time Sacajawea and a little girl 
about her own age hid under an overhanging bank 
of the river and when they thought the intruders 
had left they started to cross the river at a shallow 
place, but they were hardly halfway across when 
they were captured. The captors separated the two 
little girls and started with Sacajawea to travel 
eastward to their village which stood where Bis¬ 
marck, North Dakota, now stands. It was not long 
until the frightened child was sold as a slave to Tous- 
saint Chaboneau, a half-breed Frenchman, who was 
an adventurer and interpreter for the Northwest 
Fur Company. 

At first Sacajawea was very lonely and fright¬ 
ened, but the man was good to her and the child’s 
heart was naturally happy, so by and by she became 
gayer and again roamed far and wide over the 
prairies. She learned to love the rivers and other 
waters very much, and how to row and swim, and 
do all the other things that she saw the Indian boys 


256 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


and girls do, and by and by they began to call her 
the “Boat Launcher” because of her skill in launch¬ 
ing boats. When Sacajawea was only fourteen years 
old she was married to Chaboneau. 

In October of 1804, a great boat filled with white 
men came up the river from the south, looking for 
a place in which to build their camp. This was the 
Lewis and Clark party of forty-six which had left 
St. Louis in May and was enroute to take an inven¬ 
tory of the new region just purchased by Jefferson. 

It was not long till the newcomers visited the 
Chaboneau tent, for they were looking for a guide 
and interpreter, and before they left they had en¬ 
gaged the Frenchman and his young wife for this 
purpose. Baptiste, a little son, came to Sacajawea 
and her husband on the eleventh of February, and 
when the exploring party started out on their jour¬ 
ney on the seventh of April the young Indian woman 
carried the baby every step of the five thousand miles 
that they traveled on land. 

Lewis and Clark could have done nothing better 
to show their peaceful intentions than to take the 
woman and child with them, and not only that but 
her presence made the expedition far more cheer¬ 
ful and pleasant. Because of her knowledge Saca¬ 
jawea proved to be an excellent guide, taking them 
safely through the most dangerous mountain passes, 
through treacherous, swirling waters, swift currents 
and Indian-infested areas. She endured the long, 
dreary months of toil and hardship with the greatest 
courage and cheerfulness, often being the brightest 
inspiration in the camp. 


SACAJAWE A 


257 


One May afternoon as Sacajawea, her husband 
and baby were traveling along in a canoe laden with 
medicines, records, scientific instruments, and other 
materials needed to make the trip a success, a sud¬ 
den squall struck the boat and nearly turned it over. 
All the papers, tools and medicine were dumped into 
the whirling waters, and Sacajawea leaped after 
them, rescuing nearly all of them. From the tenth 
of June till the twenty-fourth the brave woman lay 
desperately ill, and one of the white captains bled 
her, a common practice in those days, but the party 
had to travel on, so she was placed in the back part 
of a boat, and they went on. 

Every one was worried over Sacajawea and 
begged Lewis and Clark to stop till she was better, 
so they decided to do this and with the aid of medi¬ 
cine made from herbs and laudanum, Sacajawea 
soon became much better. Nine days later as they 
were making portage, the men noticed a dark cloud 
traveling toward them in the sky and they hurried 
to seek shelter. Clark, Sacajawea, and the baby 
found refuge beneath an overhanging rock, and the 
Indian mother brought with her the baby’s extra 
clothes which she placed beside the cradle and 
Clark’s gun. In an instant rain began to fall in tor¬ 
rents and a landslide followed, the worst part strik¬ 
ing them, but with the gun in one hand Clark 
dragged the mother and her baby up the bank, but 
not before the water rose so high that it ruined the 
watch and compass in his pocket. 

Clark was afraid that without these necessary in¬ 
struments the expedition would result in a failure. 


17 


258 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


but Sacajawea comforted him and assured him that 
she could tell the directions very well and would 
soon be in a country which she knew. But until they 
reached that country the Indian woman was confi¬ 
dent that she could guide them by instinct, which 
she did, and toward the end of July they came to 
places that Sacajawea recognized. 

One day Chaboneau and Sacajawea were walking 
along the shore when a group of Indians approached 
them, and suddenly one of the women came forward 
and threw her arms around the bird woman. It was 
the little girl who had been with Sacajawea when 
they had been captured. Meanwhile others of the 
party were conferring with some Indian chiefs and 
they sent for Sacajawea to come and interpret for 
them. She began to translate for them in her soft, 
musical voice, when she astonished them all by 
jumping up and embracing Cameahwait, one of the 
chiefs, in whom she had recognized her brother. 
Some time after that Sacajawea learned that her 
tribe was trying to steal the horses of the expedi¬ 
tion, and she immediately told Lewis and Clark. 

By the end of August the explorers were ready to 
start on their journey westward, and there followed 
some of the worst part of the trip, but with daunt¬ 
less courage Sacajawea led them onward. She varied 
the monotonous diet by gathering herbs and fixing 
them in various ways, stewing wild onions with 
meat, making trapper’s butter from the shanks of 
elks, and other good dishes. Late in November the 
forlorn group reached Fort Clatsop, where they 
spent the winter, many of the men being sick and 


SACAJAWEA 


259 


desperate. That Christmas was a strange one even 
for Sacajawea, and they spent it in singing songs. 
Everyone rejoiced when they started the return trip 
early in March, and the trip that had taken them 
eight months to make was now accomplished in five. 

After traveling part of the way Clark, accom¬ 
panied by Chaboneau, Sacajawea and the baby, sep¬ 
arated from the others and explored the Yellow¬ 
stone. But by August they had reached the Minne- 
taree village, where they parted. Clark gave the 
Frenchman five hundred dollars and thirty-five 
cents and a horse for his services, but Sacajawea re¬ 
ceived nothing but their thanks. Clark wanted 
Chaboneau to accompany him to the states, but the 
Frenchman refused to do this. 

Then for a number of years Sacajawea was not 
heard from or seen, but in 1837 Clark was appointed 
superintendent of Indian affairs and he had 
Chaboneau appointed interpreter with a salary of 
three hundred dollars. Later there was a record of 
the little Baptiste having gone to school in St. Louis. 
Sacajawea died in 1884 and was buried on the Wind 
River in the Shoshone Reservation in Wyoming. 
Above her grave is a marker on a simple concrete 
pedestal on which these words are engraved on a 
brass plate: 

Sacajawea, 

Guide to Lewis and Clark Expedition, 

1805-1807. 

Identified by Rev. John Roberts, 

Who Officiated at Her Burial 
April 21, 1884. 


k 



ANNA HOWARD SHAW 

T O Doctor Anna Howard Shaw belongs the dis- : 

tinction of being the only woman who has j 
preached in the Gustav Vasa Cathedral, the state ; 
church of Sweden, and she was the first ordained 
woman to preach in the various European capitals. 
Her life is an interesting one because of the obsta- 
cles and almost insurmountable difficulties which 
she overcame in order to follow the dictates of her 
own heart. 

Little Anna was born on the fourteenth of Febru¬ 
ary, 1847, in a quaint old house at Newcastle-on- 
Tyne in England. She inherited from her grand¬ 
mother much of the love for liberty and sense for 
justice which made itself so manifest in her later 
life. The older brothers, and the two older sisters, 
Eleanor and Mary, thought that Anna was the most 


260 




ANNA HOWARD SHAW 


261 


wonderful baby who had ever lived, except when they 
had to take care of the little girl. As Anna grew 
older there were many happy days for her, and 
when a new brother, Hariy, joined them they had 
more fun than ever. 

Then there came a wonderful day that none of 
the Shaw children forgot as long as they lived, for 
the family started for America in a sailing vessel. 
When only a week out from shore the vessel was 
partly wrecked and taken back to Queenstown for 
repairs, where it remained for days. During this 
time the Shaws visited Spike Island where there was 
a great prison. Anna never forgot the discouraged, 
hopeless look on the faces of some of the men she 
saw in the great building, and even then she won¬ 
dered what she could do to help them. 

The family settled in Lawrence, Massachusetts, 
and the children were sent to school where Anna 
took a keen interest in her studies. She was a bril¬ 
liant, studious pupil and quickly developed a genius 
for public speaking and oratory. But she was rather 
shy and one day as she rose to recite a piece she 
toppled over in a faint. As soon as she recovered 
her senses she insisted that she would finish the 
work or die, and it was this indomitable spirit that 
helped Anna in after life to fight the disheartening 
battles which came to her. 

When Anna was twelve years old there came to 
her another eventful day when they started out for 
their three hundred and sixty-acre claim in Mich¬ 
igan, where the father and oldest brother, James, 
had gone some time before and built a rude log cabin. 


262 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


Mrs. Shaw and her younger children were met at 
the station by an old wagon at which the girls 
took one look and decided that it was too rude for 
them to ride in. So they started out afoot and by 
and by when they got tired they found that the 
wagon was so full they could not ride. But room was 
made for them and they traveled the hundred miles, 
while James walked all the way accompanied by 
one or the other of the sisters and now and then by 
eight-year-old Harry. At length the rude home was 
reached and soon everybody was busy helping to get 
their first supper. 

It was not long before James was working at mak¬ 
ing benches, rude bunks, tables and other furniture, 
while Anna and Harry were busy gathering the wild 
fruit, which was so plentiful, and drying it for 
winter use. In addition, they became quite skilled 
fishermen, and later there were many nuts to gather 
and store. So Anna grew in courage and strength 
and her encounters with Indians and wild animals 
made her fearless. These happy days were soon to 
end, for in the spring James became sick and was 
forced to go east for medical attendance. 

The Shaws were in despair until Anna’s brave 
words and smiles heartened them, and she and Har¬ 
ry planted the garden and made the maple sugar 
and syrup. Then Anna decided that she would start 
digging a well, and with the help of a neighbor boy 
she finished it, too. During these days there was 
very little time for study. Yet Anna yearned for 
more knowledge. She read over and over again the 
copies of the New York IndepeTident, which her fa- 


ANNA HOWARD SHAW 


263 


ther sent each week from the east, where he and 
two of the boys had remained to work to support 
the family. 

By the time that Anna was fifteen years old, 
enough people had moved into the surrounding coun¬ 
try to start a district school. After passing an ex¬ 
amination the young girl became the first teacher 
with a salary of two dollars a week and the 
privilege of “boarding around.” It was a strange 
school that the young girl taught in the midst of 
the wilderness and nearly all the books the pupils 
used were Anna’s own hymn books and the almanacs 
found in the various families. 

During her first year of teaching her father and 
her brothers. Jack and Tom, returned, and were 
happy in Anna’s good fortune, which was a great 
help to the struggling family. In the second year of 
her teaching there came the news that Ft. Sumter 
had been fired upon and that President Lincoln was 
calling for troops. Almost at once Mr. Shaw, Tom 
and Jack left. 

Dark days came for the Shaws and the family 
felt discouraged. As if the war was not hard enough 
to bear, new sorrow came, for Eleanor became very 
sick and in a short time died. The war finally closed 
and Anna was happy when her father and brother 
returned safely. It was then that the first step of 
her ambition was realized. Mary had married a 
successful Grand Kapids business man and now in¬ 
vited Anna to come and live with her and attend the 
high school there, which invitation the young girl 
gratefully accepted. 


264 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


On her very first day in the Grand Rapids High 
School Anna confided her dearly cherished hopes to 
the principal, Lucy Stone, who became greatly at¬ 
tached to the ambitious little girl. To her great de¬ 
light Anna was placed at once in the debating and 
speaking classes as she had so much desired to be. 
One day Miss Stone invited her to dinner where she 
met Dr. Peck who urged her to go and preach the 
quarterly meeting sermon in the Methodist Epis¬ 
copal Church at Ashton. Anna felt that her folk 
would disapprove of this and it seemed hard for her 
not to accept this kindly offer which she so much 
wished to do. She finally decided to accept but did 
not tell anyone about it till three days before. 

Anna was summoned to a family council and in¬ 
formed that if she did not give up preaching she 
would receive no more help from her family. It was 
a hard time for Anna but she was firm in her de¬ 
cision and finally the day came when she completed 
her circuit. No woman yet had been ordained to 
the Methodist ministry, but nearly all of the min¬ 
isters present agreed to let her pass, among those 
present being her own father. As she was now a li¬ 
censed preacher Anna was able to enter the Metho¬ 
dist College free of tuition. After her graduation in 
1875 she entered the theological department of Bos¬ 
ton University, being the only woman student in a 
class of forty-two young men. 

There followed grim hard days for the young 
woman who was ever determined and she passed an 
excellent examination but was refused ordination by 
the New England Methodist Conference on account 


ANNA HOWARD SHAW 


265 


of her sex. Later she made an appeal to a higher 
conference and was ordained. She held pastorates 
in Hingham, Dennis, and East Dennis, Massachu¬ 
setts, and during these days she supplemented her 
theological degree by one in medicine in Boston Uni¬ 
versity. 

In 1893 Anna was chosen to give the address at 
the World’s Fair on Woman’s Day in Chicago, a 
great honor. For the first time since she had taken 
up preaching her father spoke to her, crying, “My 
little Anna!” Then the whole Shaw family realized 
that instead of disgracing them by a choice of pro¬ 
fession she had honored them beyond words. 

While going about in her preaching and medical 
work Miss Shaw was firmly convinced that women 
had very little opportunity for advancement until 
they had financial and political freedom. Accord¬ 
ingly she gave up her chosen work that she might 
have more time, strength and effort to devote to this 
cause. But it was Susan B. Anthony, one of her 
closest and most trusted friends, who finally chose 
Miss Shaw’s vocation for her by insisting that no 
one could win all causes. “Win suffrage for women 
and the rest will follow,” she advised Anna and 
thereafter the two were constant workers together 
and conducted many a spirited campaign. 

In 1892 Miss Shaw had been elected vice-president 
of the National Woman’s Suffrage Association and 
in 1904 became its president. In 1915 appeared her 
autobiography which she called “The Story of a 
Pioneer.” After an active, busy life Anna Howard 
Shaw died on the second of July, 1919. 



KATE SHELLEY 

T he name of Kate Shelley should be written fore¬ 
most among the bravest women in the history 
of the world. It is much easier to do brave deeds 
amid the cheer, encouragement, and acclaim of peo¬ 
ple urging one on to victory than to do them alone in 
the dark of night with danger lurking on every side 
as did Kate Shelley. But all of her life was rich in 
character, courage and nobleness, and she thought 
nothing of doing the one great deed that has forever 
linked her name with that of the most heroic of 
women. 

Search as we will, not much can be found in 
regard to Kate Shelley’s private life, but we know 
she was born sometime in 1865, probably in Ireland 
or in England, for the family migrated to America 
in the late sixties. The father and mother, Kate, and 


.1 


266 


KATE SHELLEY 


267 


a younger sister found a home in a cottage built by 
the railroad near Honeycreek in Iowa, midway be¬ 
tween Boone and Moingona. They lived in this little 
cottage because Mr. Shelley was a section foreman 
who had to live where he could see that the tracks 
were clear. 

The turbulent Des Moines river ran very near 
to the Shelley home and the railroad tracks crossed 
it on a high trestle, a fascinating structure that 
never ceased to cause little Kate untold wonder. One 
of the duties of Mr. Shelley was to watch this wood¬ 
en structure and to keep it safe for the passing 
trains, and often his two little daughters were by 
his side. Here the little girls grew into sturdy, wide¬ 
awake youngsters, used to excitement and danger 
and to the loneliness and work of the prairies. 

Here in the surrounding prairie schools Kate and 
her sister went to school and played with the other 
children, dreaming and planning of the things they 
would do when they became women. Time passed 
and Kate grew into a strong, simple, kindly, unaf¬ 
fected young girl of sixteen years, loved and re¬ 
spected by all who knew her. Happy and care¬ 
free she was even that dreadful summer of 1881 
that old-timers still recall with terrible dread. For 
days and days it rained continually and little 
streams became swollen rivers rushing and tearing 
down hillsides, washing out great, gaping gullies 
and roaring on down to the thundering Des Moines 
river. Never had even the oldest settlers seen such 
downpours of rain and the Des Moines river was 
at high water mark for weeks at a time. Honey 


268 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


Creek became a roaring torrent, dangerous to cross. 

In July conditions had reached the worse point 
and it seemed that the streams could rise no higher. 
Eleven of the twenty-one bridges across the river 
had been washed away. Then after another heavy 
rainstorm on the sixth of July there was a lull in the 
rain. Mr. Shelley had been gone all that day in¬ 
specting conditions and doing what he could to help 
the situation. Just as dusk was falling Kate came 
into the kitchen and picking up a lantern said to 
her mother, “Father isn’t here to see that things 
are safe so I think I’ll go and look around a bit.” 

Mrs. Shelley well knew that her daughter was 
able to take care of herself and she agreed that it 
might be a wise plan. Just as Kate stepped from 
the door she saw the bridge near her home wash 
away. So she went rapidly on to the trestle, calling 
to her mother that she was going on to the “long 
bridge,” as they always called the railroad bridge. 
For a moment she stood watching the swirling wa¬ 
ters and wondering if the frail-looking structure 
would withstand the terrible pressure of the water. 

The railroad had at this place what they called a 
“helper engine,” which helped to pull the heavy 
freight trains through this section, and as Kate was 
standing there, watching, it passed her and puffed 
out on the trestle. The fire in the engine box glowed 
brightly and cheerfully in the dark, dismal night 
and for a moment the girl forgot the treacherous 
waters leaping and gurgling below. 

For an instant the trestle swayed back and forth, 
back and forth with the weight of the engine, and 


KATE SHELLEY 


269 


Kate stood, breathless. Then a thundering crash 
and the engine fell through the trestle, just as the 
engineer and fireman jumped. Kate saw them fioat- 
ing below holding fast to logs, and she could hear 
them shouting to one another and she wondered dully 
how she could help them. 

Then into her dazed mind flashed another thought, 
the thought that the east-bound passenger train 
was due in a little while at Moingona, the first sta¬ 
tion from the bridge and two miles away. The fast 
express never used the helper engine. So Kate knew 
it would never slow up and if it struck the broken 
trestle it would go down into the river. 

Kate could not telegraph; besides the trembling 
remains of the trestle, swaying fifty feet above the 
dark waters, were between her and the nearest sta¬ 
tion. Kate knew that there was nothing for her to 
do but save the train. She started out on the trestle, 
of which nothing was left but the sleepers studded 
with the heads of spikes. Masses of debris and drift¬ 
wood were dashing against the abutments, causing 
it to sway perilously. 

Now the storm began again and rain fell in a 
steady downpour, blowing out the lantern with the 
first blast. On her hands and knees Kate fought her 
way, bit by bit, over the trestle and when the wind 
was fiercest she lay down on the structure and held 
fast to the rails. There was the gap where the 
helper engine had gone through, but Kate paused 
only long enough here to leap over it. 

At last the river was crossed. Kate knew that 
she had only a few minutes more before the express 


270 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


was due and she thought she might as well have 
stayed at home if she did not get to Moingona in 
time. So with her clothes hanging in tatters and her 
knees and hands bleeding, she ran on, just as the 
east-bound express had pulled into the station. Only 
a few passengers had got off and they huddled in 
the shelter of the station av/ay from the driving 
rain. With his hand on the throttle the engineer was 
waiting for the signal to start when into the bright 
headlight of the engine came Kate running and cry¬ 
ing; 

“Stop! Stop! The long bridge’s gone and the 
helper engine’s through.” 

Then Kate fainted on the track, never hearing 
the thankful cries of the two hundred passengers. 
In a little while she returned to consciousness and 
went back on the engine to help save the men who 
were clinging to the logs in the river. 

The passengers on the train took up a collection 
and gave it to Kate to express their gratitude. The 
school children of Dubuque gave her a gold medal, 
which was followed by one from the State Legisla¬ 
ture of Iowa, which also presented her with five 
thousand dollars. 

Later Kate was appointed bill clerk of the State 
Senate and afterward she took up the duties as sta¬ 
tion agent, which position she kept up to the illness 
resulting in her death. Dr. Henry S. Cogswell gave 
a drinking fountain to Dubuque in her honor, and 
when a new bridge was built to take the place of 
the old structure over the Des Moines river it was 
named in Kate’s honor. 



ELIZABETH CADY STANTON 

N eighbors calling at Judge Cady’s home that 
twelfth day of November, 1816, to catch their 
first glimpse of the new daughter probably thought 
little of the infiuence their baby girl would have 
and the good she might grow up to do. But even her 
mother and father, proud as they were of Little 
Elizabeth, never once dreamed of her growing into 
a leader of woman, or taking an active part in the 
foremost movements of that time. In those days 
women did not often go outside of their homes to 
do work. So it was but natural that the Judge and 
his wife planned a home career for the tiny girl 
even in the first days of her life. 

Elizabeth spent all the first years of her life in the 
pretty, cozy home of her parents in Johnston, New 
York. Her father, being a judge, was deeply inter- 


271 


272 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


ested in education and any subjects relating to poli¬ 
tics. Her mother was a refined, educated woman, 
who was always interested in her husband’s and 
childrens’ work. From her earliest days Elizabeth 
heard interesting discussions and in her father’s 
oifice she first became acquainted with the common 
law. 

As she grew older, but was still a mere child, 
there was no place that Elizabeth liked to go better 
than to her father’s office. Silently, with every sense 
alert, the little girl would listen to discussions in the 
office which many a learned man would have called 
“dry and uninteresting.” But Elizabeth’s keen brain 
sifted everything she heard until she could find in it 
something she could understand and digest. 

At school Elizabeth was a bright, interested, stu¬ 
dious child who found joy and good even in study¬ 
ing. She was such a diligent student that even the 
grave judge found nothing in this respect to chide 
her about. “Little Elizabeth will make a great wo¬ 
man,” he would often say as he patted the top of 
her head. It was during the visits to her father’s 
law ofl5ce that Elizabeth first became interested in 
the Anti-slavery movement, for even at that time it 
was causing considerable agitation. 

Elizabeth grew into a charming, cultured lady and 
in 1837^ she went to visit a distant cousin, Gerrit 
Smith, in Peterboro. In after life she often won¬ 
dered if her life would have been the same if she had 
not made that pleasant visit, for it was at that time 
she met Henry B. Stanton, the man whom she mar¬ 
ried. He was a young and fervent orator who had 


ELIZABETH CADY STANTON 273 

already won considerable distinction as an advo¬ 
cate of the Anti-slavery movement. Those days in 
Peterboro were some of the most beautiful days in 
Elizabeth’s busy life and she revelled in their charm¬ 
ing leisure. 

It was not long until Elizabeth and Stanton were 
married. Then came the fulfillment of one of her 
fondest dreams, a trip to Europe, Mr. Stanton be¬ 
ing sent as a delegate for the World’s Anti-Slavery 
Convention. Her visit to London was another turn¬ 
ing point in Elizabeth’s crowded life, for it was there 
that she met Lucretia Mott, the slaves’ “Goddess of 
Liberty.” 

Here the two women formed a friendship which 
never waned, but grew richer with the passing years. 
It was largely through Mrs. Mott’s influence that 
Elizabeth decided to call a woman’s rights conven¬ 
tion at her home in Seneca Falls in July, 1848. This 
was the beginning of her active public career, dur¬ 
ing the course of which she was always a constant 
and warm champion of equal rights for the two 
sexes and interested in anti-slavery and other re¬ 
form movements. 

A prominent feature of Elizabeth’s life was the 
attention she always gave to the duties of her own 
life, and the clever skill she used to keep her public 
and home life from conflicting. Elizabeth was a true 
homemaker and did not believe in slighting any work 
that was given her to do. The Stantons had five sons 
and two daughters, which as any mother knows, took 
constant care and attention and Elizabeth was al¬ 
ways a real mother to them. She believed that others 


18 


274 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


could attend to matters outside of her home but no 
one but herself could be a mother to her children. 

After the convention the first formal demand for 
the extension of suffrage for women was made. The 
National Woman’s Association was quickly formed 
and Mrs. Stanton was chosen as the first president, 
no one being more capable and better fitted for the 
post. She retained this position until 1893. Soon 
after the convention Elizabeth was called upon to 
lecture at various gatherings, and as the people heard 
her the demands for her lectures grew. Soon these 
lectures included tours over the United States, Can¬ 
ada, England, France, and Scotland. Her fame 
spread rapidly. 

In 1868 Mrs. Stanton was a candidate for Con¬ 
gress, and in 1888 she presided over the First Inter¬ 
national Council of Women held in Washington. 
During these and the following years she was a fre¬ 
quent contributor to magazines and was joint author 
of “A History of Woman Suffrage.” She was the 
founder, and. for a time editor, of The Revolution, 
a reform periodical. 

Many of the reforms Mrs. Stanton agitated and 
worked for so diligently in her life are still un¬ 
achieved. But she accomplished much and lived to 
see a great improvement in the affairs of women, 
mostly along educational lines, matters pertaining 
to woman’s legal possession of personal property and 
in the struggle for equal suffrage. “Eighty Years 
and More,” an autobiography of her life, was pub¬ 
lished in 1895, giving a detailed and interesting 
glimpse of her active life. She died in 1902. 





'ojvvjdf c&otut' J 


HARRIET BEECHER STOWE 

P ROBABLY no American family has contained 
more distinguished members than that of Ly¬ 
man Beecher, father of Harriet Beecher Stowe, the 
first woman to gain fame as a writer in America. 

Harriet Beecher was born June 14,1811, in Litch¬ 
field, Connecticut, and a year later her famous 
brother, Henry Ward, joined the Beecher family. 
Litchfield was noted for its refinement and culture, 
and the first ladies’ seminary in this country was 
located there. Lyman Beecher, Harriet’s father, was 
the celebrated minister, so from the very first Hatty, 
as she was familiarly called, and her sisters and 
brothers were surrounded with a cultured atmos¬ 
phere. 

All the children were taught faith in God, and 
one of Harriet’s favorite mottoes, which she often 


275 


276 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


repeated during her life, was “Trust in the Lord 
and do good.” 

When Harriet was only four years old her mother 
died, but her loving influence made a strong impres¬ 
sion on the child, as well as on her sisters and broth¬ 
ers. After her death her grandmother came to keep 
house for the Beecher family. Harriet’s elder sister, 
Catherine, was her faithful companion in childhood, 
as well as in later years, and Henry Ward, who 
afterward became a famous minister, was her favor¬ 
ite brother. But she loved the others, too, and ad¬ 
mired her pretty sister, Isabella. Another of her 
brothers, Edward, later became pastor of the Salem 
church, and Charles, another brother, a clerk in a 
wholesale commission house in New Orleans. 

As a child Mrs. Stowe was very fond of reading, 
and read Burns’ ballads, the “Arabian Nights” and 
the “Waverly Tales.” She read “Ivanhoe” seven 
times. Before completing her college education But¬ 
ler’s “Analogy” was a great favorite. Part of her 
education was obtained in Litchfield, and the rest in 
Boston, her father going to that city, famed in Amer¬ 
ica for its splendid culture. 

When she was only fifteen years old, Harriet as¬ 
sisted her sister in teaching at Hartford, and this 
helped to develop her literary instincts. She began 
to compose stories, poems and sketches, some of 
which were published and contained considerable 
merit. At this time her father was appointed Presi¬ 
dent of the Lane Theological Seminary, which had 
just been established at Cincinnati, Ohio, to which 
city the Beechers moved at once. 


HARRIET BEECHER STOWE 


277 


Harriet accompanied the family to Cincinnati 
and began teaching there. Here she had many op¬ 
portunities to study life among the lowly. As the 
Ohio river was the boundary line between the slave 
and free states, she often saw many exciting inci¬ 
dents. It was here that she witnessed many of the 
things that she later described in “Uncle Tom’s 
Cabin.” Her literary work, and her sweet, modest 
womanhood attracted the attention of Calvin E. 
Stowe, a professor in Lane’s Seminary, and they 
were married in 183B. 

In 1850 Professor Stowe accepted the chair of 
sacred literature in Bowdoin College, and with their 
five small children they went to Maine to live. Mrs. 
Stowe was a very busy woman, but devoted her spare 
time through these years to writing. 

Mrs. Stowe was forty years old when she began 
writing “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” She had seen much 
of life and of its sufferings, which made such a deep 
impression on her sympathetic nature that she 
poured out the anguish of her heart in this book. 
The thought for the story first came to her while 
sitting in the college chapel. On her return home 
she wrote the chapter telling of the death of Uncle 
Tom, with a pencil stub on some coarse wrapping 
paper. The story was first published as a serial 
in the National Era, an anti-slavery paper of the 
time, the first installment appearing June 5, 1852. 
She received three hundred dollars for the serial, 
and before it was completed overtures had been made 
to print it in book form. The book sold as no other 
book had done, and she received hundreds of dollars 


278 DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 

in royalties. Next to Lincoln, Mrs. Stowe’s dramatic 
book did more to abolish slavery than any other 
cause. It was translated into many languages, and 
the modest professor’s wife found herself one of the 
world’s most famous women. 

Shortly after the appearance of “Uncle Tom’s 
Cabin” the Stowes went to Boston to live, where Mr. 
Stowe died. By this time their children had grown 
up and left home. Mrs. Stowe went to Hartford to 
live with her two daughters, and she spent twenty 
years with them. She was a neighbor of Mark Twain 
and Charles D. Warner. As if to follow out the 
tradition of the family, her son, Charles, became a 
minister of the gospel. 

Among the other books that Mrs. Stowe wrote 
are, “Pearl of Orr’s Island,” “The Minister’s Woo¬ 
ing,” “Old Town Folks,” “Dred,” which is another 
novel of negro life, “A Dog’s Mission,” “Little Pussy 
Willow,” “From Dawn to Daylight” and the “May¬ 
flower,” but none of these has been widely read 
and had she not written “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” her 
name would have been forgotten long ago. 

In peaceful quiet her gentle spirit departed for 
her heavenly home in 1896. 



CELIA THAXTER 

C ELIA THAXTER is one of the most pictur¬ 
esque figures' in American literature, and the 
calm magnificence of June must have entered the lit¬ 
tle girl’s soul. She learned to love the beauty of the 
great out-of-doors, and to picture it with a deeper 
understanding than anyone ever has. 

The little girl’s maiden name was Celia Leighton, 
and she was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 
in 1836. No baby ever had such a wonderful environ¬ 
ment and thrilling experiences, for from the very 
beginning her bright eyes looked upon the wild won¬ 
ders of the sea, sky, foam, and rock. As she grew 
older her brothers helped to show her the beauty and 
wildness of the scenery that surrounded her, and 
with them she romped and played as no other child 
ever had done. 


279 


280 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


When the little Celia was a few years old the fam¬ 
ily went to the Isle of Shoals, where the father be¬ 
came keeper of the White Island Light, and a short 
time later they moved to Appledore Island. Here 
Celia spent every summer of her life thereafter, and 
many winters. But it was not always the father 
who lit the lamps to guide the boats safely into har¬ 
bor, for often the small boys pleaded to light the 
great lamps, and still more often it was Celia’s lov¬ 
ing hands that did the task. “So little a creature 
as I might do that much for the great world,” she 
would cry in glee, when permitted to do the work she 
loved so well. 

Celia was a very attractive and pretty child, radi¬ 
ant with overflowing life and joy reaped from living 
so much in the great out-of-doors. Her face was 
always brilliant and lit with a frank, sympathizing 
smile, and the freshness of nature was always about 
her. These charming traits stayed with her all her 
life, making her loved and trusted by everybody. 

Probably no child ever lived who so delighted in 
watching things grow. Out there on the rocks 
around the lighthouse she knew where every grow¬ 
ing thing could be found. Just as the tiny blades 
of grass, the few scattered flowers, and the seaweed 
grew, so did the wild fancies grow in the child’s 
fertile brain. Everything Celia saw, whether tragic 
or beautiful, fed her fancies and she imagined 
that the wild waves galloping about and chasing 
one another to the rocks were magic horses. The 
flying spray, the floating clouds, the terror of ship¬ 
wrecks, the tragedy of the fishers’ lives, the lone- 


CELIA THAXTER 


281 


liness, the wild emotions of the moaning waters, the 
stars, the beauty of the northern lights and myriads 
of other things all appealed to the little girl. “It 
was wonderful to wake,” as she said, “to the infinite 
variety of beauty that always awaited me, and filled 
me with an absorbing, unceasing joy such as makes 
the sparrow sing—a sense of perfect bliss. . . . Ever 
I longed to speak these things that make life so 
sweet.” In later years she immortalized her life at 
this time in her charming little book entitled, “The 
Isle of Shoals,” which has become a classic. 

Celia’s sympathetic little heart was wrung with 
pity over the tragedy of the sea birds, killed as they 
dashed against the lighthouse, seeking refuge from 
some wild storm. And her glowing little face would 
grow strained and white as she heard the older folk 
tell gruesome legends of the island. All these things 
helped to give the child a deeper understanding of 
the simple people among whom she lived. So she 
grew up with the sea, the sky, and the rocks of the 
northern coast of New England. 

There was nothing the little girl was quite so fond 
of as dancing with the sandpipers. She afterward 
wrote a beautiful poem about these birds, in which 
she said, “For are we not God’s children both, thou, 
little sandpiper, and I?” Sarah Orne Jewett, an¬ 
other writer, who loved children, and Celia espe¬ 
cially, called her little “Sandpiper,” because she 
thought the little girl was so much like these strange 
birds. 

Hour after hour Celia would watch the birds bur¬ 
row their long bills into the sand in search of food. 


282 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


There is a species known as the solitary sandpiper, 
because it prefers to be alone and live in out-of-the- 
way places. It seldom notices people as they ap¬ 
proach, and will keep on in search of food till nearly 
caught, then will run away with a loud ''peet, peet.” 
It seldom flies unless pressed, and then makes a short 
flight and comes back to the same place for food. 
It was these sandpipers that Celia loved so well. 

She was only flf teen, still a child, when Levi Thax- 
ter came to the island and they were married in 
a short time. But she would not leave her beloved 
island, and still spent most of her time there writing 
poetpr, painting the scenes about her, and enjoying 
music. She wrote some prose, but it is as a writer of 
lyric poetry that she is best known and loved. Her 
first published poem, ^‘Landlocked,’' appeared in the 
Atlantic Monthly. 

Mrs. Thaxter’s first book of poems appeared in 
1872, and in 1884, “Poems for Children” was pub¬ 
lished. Others of verse and prose followed, among 
these being “Driftweed,” “The Cruise of the Mys¬ 
tery,” “Idyls and Pastorals,” and “Among Isles of 
Shoals.” Two books, “Letters and Stories” and 
“Poems to Children,” were published the year after 
her death. 

Mrs. Thaxter died on Appledore Island, the 
twenty-sixth of August, 1894, and her death was as 
calm and peaceful as her life had been. 



QUEEN VICTORIA 


T he inspiration of her whole life is perfect faith 
in God and devotion to her duty,” said James 
Parton about Queen Victoria, one of the noblest 
and greatest women who have ever lived, and 
one of the best loved sovereigns of the British king¬ 
dom. The nineteenth century is spoken of as the 
“Era of Women,” and Queen Victoria’s reign of 
sixty-four years of unprecedented industrial devel¬ 
opment and prosperity was the greatest achieve¬ 
ment of the time. With the exception of the reign 
of Louis XIV of France, Queen Victoria ruled longer 
than any other of the crowned heads. 

Alexandrina Victoria, daughter of Georg§, the 
Duke of Kent and the fourth son of George III, was 
born on the twenty-fourth of May, 1819, in Kensing¬ 
ton Palace. Being the only child, she was greatly be- 
283 


284 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


loved, but her parents were wise and so she was 
taught regular habits and strict economy. She lived 
the dull, secluded life which so many children born 
in castles lived at that time, but despite the great 
old walls and stern faces about her Victoria was a 
lively, happy child. 

When Victoria was only eight years old her father 
died, leaving an empty, sad place in her monotonous 
life, but her mother was a shrewd woman, as well as 
a sensible and clever one, and took up the burden. 
With the help of her brother. King Leopold, much 
of the heavy debt which had been contracted was 
lifted by Victoria’s mother. In later years Victoria 
would often declare that the happiest days in her 
life were spent during this period when she visited 
Claremont, her uncle’s beautiful home. The little 
girl possessed a beautiful voice, which was care¬ 
fully trained, and which gave herself and compan¬ 
ions much happiness, and from her very birth her 
mother trained her carefully for the position that 
her birth might some day make her heir to. 

When Victoria was twelve years old she was told 
that she was the first princess of the blood and might 
inherit the throne. It was then that the enthusiastic 
girl took her governess’ hand in hers and cried, “I 
will be good. I understand why you urged me so 
much even to learn Latin.” 

When Victoria was just a little over eighteen 
years old this great and wonderful responsibility 
came to her, her Uncle William IV dying on the 
twentieth of June, 1837. Before sunrise that morn¬ 
ing the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Marquis 


QUEEN VICTORIA 


285 


of Conyngham were ringing and pounding on Vic¬ 
toria’s door for admission to see the queen. It is 
hard to realize what this news meant to the modest 
young girl, and she kept saying to herself again and 
again that it could not be true and thought how 
terrible it was to lay aside all of her youthful free¬ 
dom- and be a dignified queen. It must have been at 
this time that the young lady promised herself never 
to be the stern, unapproachable queen she had 
dreaded so much to meet herself. A little over a 
year passed, in which Victoria was rigidly trained 
for the new duties, arid then the coronation took 
place at Westminster Abbey on the twenty-eighth of 
June, 1838. A month later she was called to per¬ 
form the public duty of attending a great parade. 

Even though Victoria had to put aside many of 
her girlhood enjoyments, when in private life she 
liked to be the girl she had been and forget all about 
being a queen. Her education in politics and gov¬ 
ernment now became deeper and she was directed 
in them by the loyal and sage Lord Melbourne, who 
became her first counsellor. To him great credit is 
due for developing much of the queen’s wonderful 
ability and spirit of democracy. 

It is but right to say that much of this noble 
queen’s prosperous reign was due to the wisdom and 
broadmindedness of her counsellors, she having been 
blessed with the choice of good men in this respect. 
It was during these first days that Queen Victoria 
replied to a question asked her in this way: “I have 
immensely to do but I like it very much—I delight 
in this work.” And no rulers have ever shown that 


286 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


they loved their work, or their people more, than 
did this broadminded, kind-hearted queen. 

Queen Victoria was very busy these days, but not 
too busy for a beautiful romance to creep into her 
life, and on the tenth of February, 1840, she married 
her cousin. Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. 
The morning was cloudy and rain fell in dismal 
showers and nearly everyone was sorry that the day 
was so dark and cheerless, but the queen only smiled 
and assured them that it did not matter, and look¬ 
ing at her smiling face no one could believe that it 
did. 

However, before the ceremony took place, the day 
cleared and turned bright and pretty, but it was no 
more shining than the happy face of the queen and 
her cousin. Their marriage was not only one of true 
happiness and contentment, but it was of great bene¬ 
fit to the queen’s kingdom, for Prince Albert was a 
great student, an unselfish philanthropist and an 
able business man and he devoted himself to the 
people and became Victoria’s chief adviser. 

Happy and busy days passed for the king and 
queen. Four sons and five daughters came to them. 
The eldest little girl was named Victoria in honor of 
her mother, then came Albert, Edward, Alice, Al¬ 
fred, Helena, Louise, Arthur, Leopold and Beatrice, 
several of them dying before their talented mother. 
But to all she gave the deepest care and attention 
for their education, believing that this was the true 
foundation on which their lives were to be built. As 
the girls grew older Queen Victoria studied history 
with them and helped them to make and arrange a 


QUEEN VICTORIA 


287 


large collection. The boys learned fortification and 
other things, first from their father and afterwards 
from able instructors. 

Queen Victoria mourned deeply at the death of 
her mother in March, 1861, and the thought of her 
was still lingering in her heart when her husband; 
died on the fourteenth of December of the same year. 

The queen had always been fond of literature and 
during these years she wrote a book entitled, “Our 
Life in the Highlands,” which was followed fifteen 
years later by “More Leaves from the Journal of 
Life in the Highlands.” In 1887 the people of Eng¬ 
land, with impressive and majestic ceremonies, cele¬ 
brated the golden jubilee of Queen Victoria’s reign, 
and ten years later her diamond jubilee was ob¬ 
served with even greater splendor. It is impossible 
even yet to estimate the good and significance reaped 
from her long reign, for some of the greatest things 
which ever happened in the history of the country 
took place during these years. Some one has said of 
her, “Among all the sovereigns of history none is 
held in higher esteem by Christian nations.” 

Always healthy and active. Queen Victoria seemed 
never to tire, and she did not appear to be old when 
she passed her eighty-first birthday, and on the 
twenty-second of January, 1901, died at her home in 
the Isle of Wight. There was great sorrow through¬ 
out the kingdom, for everyone missed the cheerful 
queen with the kind heart. 



MARTHA CUSTIS WASHINGTON 

W ITH the exception of Mary Lincoln none of 
our presidents’ wives have won as much fame 
as did Martha Washington, the very first woman to 
fill the place. The names of many of the presidents’ 
wives are not known at all, but Martha was almost 
as popular as her illustrious husband, and her name 
is still often mentioned. 

Martha Dandridge, the daughter of a wealthy 
Virginia planter, was born in a stately home in New 
Kent County sometime in May of 1732. The beauty 
and happiness of the spring days seem to have been 
the little girl’s heritage for she was always gay and 
happy and as active and lively as the bees and but¬ 
terflies that skimmed through the fields. The name 
of Martha was soon turned into “Patsy,” by which 

288 



MARTHA CVSTIS WASHINGTON 289 

nickname she was known to more intimate friends 
all the rest of her life. 

Every one loved the little Martha and the neigh¬ 
bors were always glad when the happy child came 
to see them. She was so gay-hearted, so unselfish 
that it did all of them good just to see the child, and 
many a mother told their own children that to be 
like Martha was a worthy effort. There were so 
many jolly things that Martha and her playmates 
could find to do on the big plantation, and they had 
their regular little tasks to do, for no matter how 
rich the pioneer families were they believed in teach¬ 
ing their children to work. 

In those days schools were few and far between, 
so Martha did not receive a very extensive educa¬ 
tion. But she was given as thorough a one as any 
girl received in those days. Martha was naturally 
very brilliant and intelligent and grasped many a 
thing for herself and with the aid of her parents 
learned much outside of school. 

While still in her young girlhood Martha met 
Daniel Parke Custis, a very handsome and energetic 
young man. Like most girls of her age Martha was 
dreaming romantic dreams and looking for wonder¬ 
ful princes. Martha was still a fun-loving girl at 
seventeen when she was married to Custis. Soon 
there came a son and a daughter to help fill Martha’s 
busy life, but she lost none of her light-heartedness 
and graceful activity. 

By and by the first real sorrow Martha had ever 
known came to her in the death of her husband. 
How lonely and sad Martha was for a while, but 


19 


290 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


she had the two children who delighted in playing 
about and laughing, and in them the young mother 
found a great solace. 

Then came the Revolutionary War and Martha 
found a great many things she could do to help oth¬ 
ers. She devoted a great part of her time to helping 
the soldiers, and they grew to love her very much. 

Everyone was happy when Martha stopped to chat 
with them a little while or even give them a smile 
or a passing touch with her hand as she came by. 
In those days she was so busy, and so happy in do¬ 
ing what she could to help others, that she forgot 
about the deep ache in her heart. It was while on a 
visit to some friends in Virginia in 1759 that Martha 
first met Colonel Washington. 

George Washington at that time was as handsome 
as he ever was and strong and stalwart and Mar¬ 
tha’s heart went out to him at once. He was so 
courtly, so impressive, and it is probable that Mar¬ 
tha’s friends were plotting when they arranged the 
meeting. Colonel Washington was attracted just as 
deeply by the comely young widow and everyone 
observed their interest in one another. In a short 
time Martha became Mrs. Washington and her 
thoughts were turned into a new channel. 

After the close of the Revolutionary War, Wash¬ 
ington was chosen as president and Martha went to 
live in the White House, just like a real queen. But 
the simple Patsy of childhood days still lived in Mar¬ 
tha’s heart and she was the same unassuming, pleas¬ 
ant girl she had always been. She became a very 
charming and popular hostess, greatly loved by all 


MARTHA CUSTIS WASHINGTON 


291 


who knew her. She never forgot even the poorest 
of her girlhood friends and no one ever accused 
Martha of being a snob. The two children had won¬ 
derful times playing in the White House and grew 
up and married, and later on the Washingtons 
adopted one of the boy’s children. 

After the death of George Washington, Martha 
went to live at Mount Vernon, his old home, and here 
she staid for the three remaining years of her 
life. She lived an active life, keenly interested in 
many affairs and always eager to take a part in 
the life around her. Here she died in 1802, and was 
buried beside her husband. 




EMMA WILLARD 

T he love of teaching appears to have been a pas¬ 
sion in her mind.” So said Mrs. Hale about Em¬ 
ma Hart Willard, the first woman to advocate higher 
education for women. Mrs. Willard gave all her life 
for the cause of education and all the present day 
schools are built on the foundation of the schools she 
founded. 

Emma Hart, which was Emma’s name when she 
was a girl, was born in Berlin, Connecticut, in Feb¬ 
ruary, 1787. Emma was not yet a week old when 
her mother looking into the baby’s bright eyes pre¬ 
dicted that she felt the child would become a great 
woman. “I hope she’ll do something that is as bright 
and beautiful in the world as her eyes are,” said • 
her mother. ’ 

Although the mischief-loving little Emma may | 


292 


EMMA WILLARD 


293 


have caused Mrs. Hart many minutes of worry, still 
no mother was ever prouder of the mental attain¬ 
ments of her child. Everyone admired and loved the 
keen-eyed, bright child, who, as soon as she started 
to talk, was asking all kinds of puzzling questions. 

Long before little Emma started to school she 
knew how to read and write, and no little girl ever 
liked better to go to school than she did. She was 
very clever and intelligent and progressed rapidly 
in her studies, always being at the head of her class. 
Emma never forgot those golden school days and 
even then she began thinking of what she could do 
to help other little girls and boys to get a better edu¬ 
cation. People laughed because the sober-faced little 
girl would rather take a book and crawl away and 
read it than play with her playmates or even go to 
a picnic. Yet Emma was fond of play and often 
romped with the other children, which helped to 
keep her a happy, healthy child. 

In those days there were not many persons capable 
of teaching school, even though the instructors were 
not required to have an extensive education. So 
when Emma was only sixteen years old she began 
teaching the district school in Berlin. Although the 
young teacher was nothing but a child herself she 
knew instinctively how to manage even the most 
disobedient and stubborn of her pupils, and it was 
marvelous how she could get them interested in the 
dullest lessons. The pupils all grew to love her very 
much, and as the last day of school drew near they 
all regretted that they would not have her for a 
teacher the next year. 


294 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


The following year Emma opened a select school 
which only some of the children of the richer fam¬ 
ilies could attend. The young teacher found equal 
favor among her pupils here, and the news of her 
teaching abilities spread, so that during the sum¬ 
mer she was placed at the head of the Berlin Acad¬ 
emy. Even though her school duties kept her busy 
Emma managed to find some spare moments to de¬ 
vote to studying. 


During the years she taught at the Berlin Acad¬ 
emy Emma was engaged throughout the summer 
and winter as instructress at home, but in the spring 
and autumn she managed to attend one or the other 
of the boarding schools at Hartford. In these 
schools she drew attention as a remarkable student 
of unusual mental attainments, and yet she was al¬ 
ways admitting to herself how very little she knew 
and marveled at the wonderful things yet to learn. 

In 1807 Emma was chosen to take charge of an 
academy in Westfield, Massachusetts. Instead she 
went to Middlebury, Vermont, where she taught an 
academy for girls for two years. Mrs. Willard al¬ 
ways looked back to these days as being among the 
happiest of her busy and happy life. 

It was in this little town that Emma met Doctor 
Willard, whom she married in 1809. He took a verv 
keen interest in her work and aided her wherever 
e could, and it was owing to his suggestions that 
Emma opened a boarding school in Middlebury Ver¬ 
mont in 1814. Now for the first time she was able 
to introduce some of the new studies and methods 
of teaching which had filled her brain for so long. 


EMMA WILLARD 


295 


These studies and methods proved to be very success¬ 
ful and are the foundation on which many of our 
modern studies and methods of teaching are based. 

Governor Clinton, hearing of Mrs. Willard’s great 
interest in educational affairs, invited her to move 
her boarding school to New York, where he insisted 
she would have wider and better opportunities for 
her ideas. He also commended her “Plan,” as her 
methods of education were called, to the legislature. 

Through the governor’s efforts Mrs. Willard’s 
school was removed to Troy, New York. Here the 
school was very successful and ever since the sem¬ 
inary has been associated with her name. It is due 
to the success of this school that subsequently there 
appeared such famous schools for girls as Barnard, 
Bryn Mawr, Oberlin, Smith, Vassar, and others. For 
thirteen years after her husband’s death Mrs. Wil¬ 
lard conducted the college which she founded. 

In 1830 Mrs. Willard visited Europe and upon 
her return to America she published a volume of 
travels, entitled “Journals and Letters from France 
and Great Britain,” and she gave the proceeds of 
$1,200 from its sale to help establish a school for 
girls at Athens, Greece. In 1838 she resigned her 
position at the academy and returned to Hartford, 
and in 1845 she made an educational tour through 
the southern counties of New York, studying edu¬ 
cational matters from various angles. The next 
year she made an extended tour of the western 
states, everywhere being welcomed and honored. 

It was sometime during these years and the ones 
up to her death that she wrote the words of the beau- 


296 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


tiful song we know so well, “Rocked in the Cradle of 
the Deep.” Mrs. Willard was also the author of a 
number of textbooks, and among her writings are 
the “History of the United States,” “Last Leaves of 
American History,” “Morals for the Young” and 
“Treatise on the Circulation of the Blood.” 

Mrs. Willard died on the fifteenth of April, 1870, 
shortly aftei: her eighty-third birthday, in the town 
of her birth. In 1895 a beautiful statue was erected 
to her memory in Troy, New York, but the efforts 
of her earnest and noble work are perpetuated in 
every school building in America. 


I 



FRANCES ELIZABETH WILLARD 

T WOULD say it is to make the whole world home- 
like,” was Miss Willard’s reply when asked her 
ideal of womanhood, then she added, “The true wo¬ 
man will make homelike every place she enters, and 
she will enter every place in this wide world.” No 
life is a better illustration of the influence of a Chris¬ 
tian home than that of Frances Elizabeth Willard. 
Not only did her religious training influence the 
woman herself, but the entire world. 

Frances Willard was born on the twenty-eighth 
of September, 1839, in Churchville, New York. 
Both of her parents were school teachers, and be¬ 
lieved in giving their children the best education 
possible. When Frances was two years old the fam¬ 
ily emigrated to Oberlin, Ohio, where they spent five 
years in study. Then Mr. Willard’s health failed and 


297 


298 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


a change of climate and occupation was recom¬ 
mended. So once again the family traveled in prairie 
schooners to Janesville, Wisconsin, a distance of five 
hundred miles. The father drove the first wagon, 
Oliver, the eldest child, the second, and in the last 
came little Frances and her mother. 

Frances loved her picturesque new home and the 
wonderful bluffs and prairies amid which it snug¬ 
gled. Here her sister, Mary, and younger brother 
were born. The four children had wonderful times 
together. In the region there were few schools, so 
the Willard children were taught at home, and not 
till Frances was fourteen years old did she ever en¬ 
ter a school building. Then a typical little log school 
house was built near by and the Willard children 
started to school. But during all the preceding years 
Frances’ education had been blended with her reli¬ 
gious growth, molding her into a splendid girl from 
whom later the wonderful woman was developed. 

When Frances was fifteen years old she was sent 
to a select school in Janesville, and when she was 
eighteen to the Milwaukee Female College. She was 
very shy in her strange environment, so far away 
from her childhood surroundings, and the other pu¬ 
pils thought her haughty and independent. After 
graduating from the Milwaukee College, Frances 
entered the Northern Female University of Evans¬ 
ton, and at this time her talents leaned toward a 
literary career. That winter she joined the Meth¬ 
odist Church and her religious aspirations greatly 
infiuenced her life. 

After graduating from this college she taught 


FRANCES ELIZABETH WILLARD 299 

school for two or three years. In 1862 her sister 
Mary died, and she felt the loss very keenly. The next 
two years she taught at the Pittsburgh Female Col¬ 
lege, and wrote a book about her sister called “Nine¬ 
teen Beautiful Years.” With the death of her father 
and the marriage of Oliver the beautiful Christian 
home was broken up. Feeling she was unable to 
stand the loss. Miss Willard decided to spend the 
next two and a half years in Europe, in company 
with Miss Jackson. 

In Europe Miss Willard was impressed every¬ 
where by the inferior way in which women were 
treated. “What can be done to make the world a 
wider place for women?” she asked herself over and 
over again. In Paris she decided to study the ques¬ 
tion as related to the women of Europe, and after 
returning to America to take up the same research 
work. She resolved to talk in public, write, fight, do 
anything to help settle this question. So Frances 
Willard made the choice of her life’s career. On her 
return to this country, because she needed money to 
support herself and her mother, she resumed her 
teaching. In 1871 she was elected dean of a college 
for women, remaining in this place till 1874. 

About this time the Women’s Temperance Cru¬ 
sade started in Ohio, and Miss Willard, being so 
keenly interested in bettering the welfare of women, 
read all she could about this movement. In her way 
she helped wherever she could. One day in March, 
1874, a group of women were insulted by some loaf¬ 
ers, and indignant at their actions Miss Willard 
made a temperance lecture, which was soon followed 


300 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


by another and still others, until she became known 
as an eloquent lecturer. 

So deeply was Miss Willard interested in the tem¬ 
perance question that she resigned her position in 
the school and went east to study the anti-saloon up¬ 
rising. She was soon chosen as the president of the 
Chicago Woman’s Union and returned to Chicago, 
where she often went hungry and tired in order to 
investigate conditions. After that her life is very 
closely connected with the Women’s Christian Tem¬ 
perance Union, of which she is the real founder. In 
October, 1874, she was elected corresponding secre¬ 
tary of the Illinois State Union. A year or so later 
she became its president, and in 1879 she became the 
president of the National Union. 

It was in 1876 that Miss Willard first declared 
that she had given her support to women’s suffrage, 
urging that through the ballot the women would win 
better protection from the evils of drink. In 1892 
she visited England as the guest of Lady Somerset, 
the great temperance reformer. The last six years 
of Miss Willard’s life were divided between the 
United States and Europe. 

For a time Miss Willard edited the Post and Mail 
and the Union Signal, She also wrote several books, 
including ^Woman and Temperance,” ‘‘Glimpses of 
Fifty Years” and “A Great Mother.” She died in 
1898, as beautifully and peacefully as she had lived. 
She contributed more to the cause of temperance 
than any woman of her day. 



ELLA FLAGG YOUNG 

E lla FLAGG young was the best known 
woman educator of the times, and she was the 
first woman to serve as the superintendent of the 
schools in a large city. Her entire life was given in 
an effort to better the education of this country, and 
every boy and girl in the United States is indebted 
to this noble woman. 

Ella Flagg was born in Buffalo, New York, on the 
fifteenth of January, in 1845, and from the very be¬ 
ginning her parents considered her an exceptional 
child. When only a baby she was very fond of books, 
and when other children can scarcely talk this little 
girl was gazing fondly through books and papers. 
Her parents soon came to Chicago, where the small 
girl had many opportunities to enlarge her educa¬ 
tion, and she was a child who always liked to go to 
301 


302 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


school. There was nothing she liked better then to 
study, and after completing grammar school she at¬ 
tended high school. She was a brilliant pupil, and 
her teachers were fond of dreaming what the intel¬ 
ligent young girl would do some day. 

After graduating from the high school she went to 
the Chicago Normal school, where she received a 
Ph.D. degree, completing her education at the Uni¬ 
versity of Illinois. She began teaching school in 1862, 
and was a very successful and capable teacher, being 
loved and respected by her pupils. One of her pupils 
declared that there was nothing Miss Flagg did not 
know. 

In 1868 she married William Young, who had be¬ 
come intensely interested in her educational views. 
She had a mind of her own, and was not afraid to 
express her thoughts. But she made a helpful wife 
and loved her home, though most of her time was 
devoted to the work she loved so well. In 1887 she 
was elected district superintendent of the Chicago 
schools, and she held the position till 1899. Shortly 
afterward she served as Professor of Education in 
the University of Chicago, a great honor for such 
a young woman. 

She held this position till in 1905, when she was 
elected principal of the Chicago Normal School 
which place she held till 1909. A year after becom¬ 
ing the principal she became editor of the Educa¬ 
tional Bi-Monthly, a journal for educational work¬ 
ers. Her first book, “Isolation in the School ” an- 
peared in 1901, and made her a popular authority on 
educational problems. In 1902 a second book, “Eth- 


ELLA FLAGG YOUNG 


303 


ics of the School Room,” was printed. Mrs. Young’s 
strength was wonderful and she seemed never to 
tire while at work on educational matters. 

In 1909, Mrs. Young, who was then the most 
popular teacher in the schools of Chicago, was elect¬ 
ed superintendent of the schools of Chicago, a place 
that had never before been filled by a woman. Here 
Mrs. Young showed her wonderful ability, energy 
and capability. Her chief and most valuable con¬ 
tribution to the school system of Chicago was the in¬ 
troduction of studies of a practical kind, which 
paved the way for more formal vocational training. 
Because of her years of experience Mrs. Young un¬ 
derstood many things that other superintendents 
had not, and she improved the schools of the city in 
many ways. She has been as much of a reformer in 
educational affairs as Florence Nightingale was in 
nursing, and Mrs. Stowe in the life of the negro. 

Mrs. Young held the office of superintendent until 
1915, except for a few days in December, 1913, 
when, because of some misunderstanding she re¬ 
signed, but was re-elected immediately. The hearts 
of the people of Chicago were with her, and they 
wanted her to be at the head of their schools. By this 
time she had become known throughout the world, 
and many educational problems were referred to her. 

In 1910 Mrs. Young was honored by being elected 
a member of the State Board of Education. She had 
held numerous positions in various educational or¬ 
ganizations, at one time being president of the Na¬ 
tional Educational Association. 

The women principals of Chicago paid a beautiful 


304 


DAUGHTERS KNOWN TO FAME 


tribute to Mrs. Young by organizing an association, 
which they have named the Ella Flagg Young Club. 
Mrs. Young was an enthusiastic member of various 
clubs for women in Chicago, and each considers it a 
great honor to have had her as a member. 

Because of ill health and old age, Mrs. Young re¬ 
signed from her educational work in 1915. But still 
energetic and active in mind, she could not be idle, 
so she became intensely interested in the movement 
for woman’s suffrage, where her keen mind did 
much for the cause. Still vividly alive to all educa¬ 
tional matters this remarkable woman spent her last 
years in Chicago, the city in which she lived nearly 
all her life. She died in 1918. The better schools of 
the city are a wonderful monument to her life’s 
work. 





























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